Eau Claire, Wisconsin - The SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team competed this past weekend at the inagural NJAC (New Jersey Athletics Conference) West Division Championships against some of the top tier teams in the United States in Division III.  While the Red Dragons finished the weekend with an 0-3 record; the performances were noteworthy with their first experience in this new conference.

On Saturday morning the SUNY Oneonta Men's squad took on Wisconsin LaCrosse which was billed from the start as a very tight matchup and that was the case.  SUNY Oneonta had five of the matches contested in doubles and singles go to tiebreakers.  Unfortunately the men lost four out of the five tiebreakers and that sealed their fate with a match score of 8-1 against which really did not tell the quality of play that was exhibited throughout.  The number one doubles team of junior Mason Spottek (Binghamton/Susquehanna Valley) and Riley Smith (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) were serving for the match but could not convert and lost in a tiebreaker.  The same in the second tier as the squad of juniors August Lepiqe and Jacob Dornsife (Wilmington, DE/Mt. Pleasant) were up a break in their match but they could not hold it and went down 8-5.  The third flight of players freshman Noah Khair (New Delhi, INDIA/National Institute of Open Schooling) and Joshua Mann (East Greenbush/Columbia) got off to a strong start but were doubled up 8-4.  Anytime you go down after doubles 3-0 that is a hard deficit to makeup.  

Fireworks on all singles courts as The Red Dragons went toe to toe.  Lepique won the first set at the top spot but lost in a super tiebreaker.  The same fate for Dornsife who went down in the super tiebreaker.  If that was not enough than rookie Khair lost in a tiebreaker also. Finally though in the second position Spottek converted in the super tiebreaker with a 10-2 decision to save Oneonta from the shutout.  Head Coach Lonnie Mitchel stated,it was a great way to start off the weekend with such a competitive match and to let the state of Wisconsin that Oneonta is in town and will compete as hard as possible. All the guys did that today and it was frustrating to lose so many tiebreakers, but the guys were proud of the quality put out."  Sophomore Yonathan Glattman (Hewlett/Hewlett) played well all weekend going into the exhibition position earning a couple of wins.

In the night cap the Red Dragon men took on regional power house Wisconsin Eau Claire.  Notable results were Number one doubles Smith and Spottek losing only by a service break.  Lepique went onto play his second super tiebreaker in singles and took it on the chin on the short side of another razor tight match.  

The final match of the weekend was against Nationally ranked power house Wisconsin Whitewater and the Red Dragons simply could not match the talent that Whitewater put on display.  The Red Dragons were shutout for the second day in a row.  Dornsife at the fourth position fought as all the Oneonta players did but this match went the distance in the second set as Dornsife hung in tight and was serving for the set but could not convert and had to settle for a straight set tiebreak loss in the second set.

The SUNY Oneonta Men's Tennis now have to lick their wounds and take on The Union College Dutchman who are having a good year themselves.  This match is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25th on the campus of Union College beginning at 4:00 PM. Read Full Article