New Paltz, NY – Fresh off a win verse Alfred University the day prior.  Women's tennis were up and on their way at 6 AM today to New Paltz, NY for the first annual New Paltz Invitational competing against the SUNY New Paltz Hawks, SUNY Cortland and Union College. 

The day began with doubles and the Red Dragons showed why this could be the most talented team in years.  In the top four flights The Red Dragons were victorious in bracket number two and bracket number four.  Sophomore Mya Lipscomb (Peekskill/Walter Panas) and freshman Olivia Fraser (Queensbury/Queensbury) were incredible coming back from two breaks down in their opening match against Union College and advanced to the finals scoring a 7-7 (9-7) win.  In the final they also came back from breaks and brought a home a tier two championship defeating New Paltz 7-7 (7-4).  Flight four found freshman Rebecca Macdonald (Brooklyn/Leon M. Goldstein) pairing with junior Danielle Swierczyna (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) advancing to the finals winning 8-4 against New Paltz in the championship.  The SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons have been trying to close the gap between themselves and the Hawks for years and today's victories showed that the competition is tightening between these two arch rivals.

In singles play sophomore Julieta Eulau (Oceanside/Oceanside) begins the year representing the Red Dragons in the number one position was the champion on the day overall.  In the first flight she won easily triumphing over Cortland and advanced to the championship round and coming back from 4-1 and 5-2 in the final drawing even and winning in a tiebreaker 6-6 (7-4).  At the second flight senior Alyssa Brault (Rochester/Churchville-Chili) advanced to the final but had to take the runner-up position losing to New Paltz in the final 3-6.  However, the Oneonta Red Dragon Women were absolutely dominant throughout the rest of their top lineup positions.  Lipscomb won the tier three championship earning the top spot, that was followed by flight four with rookie Fraser earning top honors after a well fought tiebreaker victory over New Paltz in the opening round on her way to winning the championship.  Freshmen Alexandra Dratch (Montgomery/Valley Central) got to the final in tier five but settled for the runner-up position after a tough loss in the championship round.  However, freshman Madeline Carswell (Albany/Bethlehem) was dominant in the sixth position and won handily taking that flight championship.  Senior Michelle Halpern (Rye Brook/Blind Brook) won top honors in tier seven and MacDonald was a winner circle occupant in the ninth.  Another highlight for the Red Dragons occurred in the 12^th spot as freshmen Giovanna Buccina (Syracuse/Westhill) swept her flight and was a champion for the Red Dragons in her tier. Overall the Red Dragons were champions in seven of the thirteen rounds contested in singles and two out of the top four spots in doubles for a total of nine champions on the day besting the other colleges competing.

The SUNY Oneonta Red Dragon Women hit the road for a SUNYAC matchup v Plattsburg on the Cardinals campus on Saturday, September 8^th.  That match is slated for a 12 noon start.