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Box Score 2 Lakeland and Orlando, Florida - An afternoon late start due to weather for the SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team as they took on Southern Region powerhouse Oglethorpe College of Georgia.
The doubles competition continues to be a case where Oneonta plays with some of the best Division III talent in the country, but experience does the Red Dragons in. At number one doubles junior
Joseph D'Orazio (Smithtown/Smithtown) and senior
Zach Lasky (Colonie/Colonie) went up by two breaks but simply could not hold on as the tandem from Georgia struck back and then routinely closed out the match 8-6. The number three doubles team suffered a similar fate as senior
Cole Laffitte (East Setauket/Ward Melville) and freshmen
Riley Smith (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) also got the break necessary but could not hold on and fell 9-7.
A 3-0 lead going into singles could not be overcome as the Red Dragon men in the numbers two-six positions fell in straight sets. The highlight of the dual match was D'Orazio who at number one singles was very impressive playing some of the best tennis of the young spring season and took out their number one player in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 saving a shutout loss for the Oneonta men.
The night cap was another exciting affair with Oneonta trying to snap a five-match losing streak with some of the most gut-wrenching tennis losses a team could suffer. However, the men's tennis team seemed to only have resolve while playing some of the best quality Division III tennis you could see took on Trine University of Indiana at the USTA National Tennis Center in Orlando.
This time Oneonta got off to another quick start on the doubles court and took a 2-1 lead. Sophomore
Marco Ammirati (Huntington/Huntington) and junior
Nicholas Fox (Commack/Commack) started out quickly getting breaks earlier and were overpowering in their 8-3 win at second flight. Smith and Laffitte were very steady and won important points at opportune times and closed out an emotionally charged number three doubles contest 8-5.
This time with a 2-1 lead at the start of singles play the Red Dragon men took care of business and put an end to their five-match skid. Numbers two through five secured wins with dramatic results. Number two Ammirati went down a set and then won the second set followed by an amazing emotional tiebreaker with each player displaying huge ground-strokes, big serves and returns. Ammirati walked off the court 4-6, 6-3 (10-4) winner. Fox at third singles also did a Houdini act as he dropped the first set and came back very strong winning the second set easily bringing up another super-tiebreaker decider. With each player saving match points Fox pulled out the match 5-7, 6-0 (13-11) with both teams rooting hard for their teammates.
What proved to be the clincher was Laffitte's win at number five scoring a straight set win 6-1, 6-3 and senior Tim Distiller doing the same tallying a 6-1, 6-2 win in the sixth position. Back in the fourth spot Lasky had little trouble attaining an impressive win posting a score of 6-1, 6-1.
With an impressive win in tow the Red Dragons leave Florida now at 3-5 and get set to play St. John Fisher on Friday the 16th of March in Rochester beginning at 4 PM.
