March 14, 2020

Kissimmee, Florida - Men's Tennis wrapped their season shortened year in Florida with a 1-2 trip and compiled a 3-4 record on the season.
Highlights of the Florida trip was a win against the strong Piedmont College Lions;  The Red Dragons defeated the Georgia squad 6-3 on Monday, March 9th.  In that dual match wins in doubles came from senior Marco Ammirati (Huntington/Huntington) and junior Riley Smith (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) competing  in the top flight tallying an 8-2 triumph.  Freshman Jacob Dornsife (Wilmington, DE/Mt. Pleasant) and sophomore Matthew Reinhold (New Windsor/Newburgh Free Academy) came out on top in the second tier shutting out their opponents 8-0. 

Singles v Piedmont and a 2-1 lead in tow the Red Dragons needed three singles wins to clinch the dual match.  They got the three they needed with huge wins from Ammirati coming out on top after splitting sets but the Oneonta male then took the decisive tiebreaker 10-3 in number one singles.  Sophomore Dalton Capobianco (Daniel Island, SC/SC Connections Charter School) also split sets in a mentally tough performance dropping the first set 6-1 and then edged his Piedmont foe 7-5 in the second set and doubling up his opponent 10-5 in the super tiebreaker with the action occurring at the second singles spot.  Fourth singles was also a Red Dragon dominant affair as freshman August Lepique was a straight set winner feeling very home on the clay courts where the match was contested recording a 6-2, 6-4 performance.  Rounding out the win for the Red Dragons was a victory from the very reliable senior Alexander Reiley (Manorville/Eastport) who earned an impressive 6-3, 6-4 tally clinching the 6-3 team  for the Red Dragons.

Team matches were also contested against regionally ranked Wheaton College of Illinois and Washington College of Maryland.  Those two dual matches were contested at the USTA National Campus in Orlando on Tuesday, March 10th.  The Red Dragons were setback in those contests with the identical score of 6-3 in what were highly skilled and spirited matches.  The highlight of the doubles v Wheaton was a win for junior Benjamin Cohen and Capobianco at the third flight coming out on top in tiebreaker 8-7 (8-5).   Singles wins also came from Lepique and Reiley in the Wheaton match.

The contest v Washington also displayed the high level of tennis the Red Dragons were becoming accustomed to seeing.  Unfortunately the Red Dragon men could not find a win in the doubles but a highlight was in the first tier as Ammirati   and Smith dropped a match at number one.

The Red Dragons men though came roaring back in the singles stanza as Capobianco yet again dropped the first set 6-1 and then came back and took the second set 6-4.  Withstanding a late comeback from the Washington foe when Capobianco was up 9-5 in the super breaker who then deadlocked the score at  9.  But Capobianco's poise won out and he won the next two points to secure the second singles win.  The Red Dragon team comeback was notable in that Smith took a straight set win at the fifth position notching up a 7-6, 6-4 victory.  Reiley recorded yet another win in Florida with straight set win in the sixth position 6-1, 6-1 to close out his career on a very high note.

The Red Dragons head back home to Oneonta with a respectable shortened season in tow but have to close out the campaign because of the nation's health crisis.  The men will reconvene in the fall and begin their 2020/21 season in the NJAC conference.