New Jersey, - The SUNY Oneonta Men's Tennis Team started off the season at 0-3 but now have won four out their last five contests to draw to .500 on the season.
Playing their first full season in the NJAC (New Jersey Athletic Conference) the men's tennis team ventured down to the Garden State to play three-teams in the East Division of the same conference and came away with a 2-1 road trip.
The NJAC is loaded with talent and first up on the road trip was the defending champions New Jersey City Knights who showed why they are the big dogs in the conference by downing the Red Dragons 9-0. Notable results was in first doubles when senior
Riley Smith (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) and junior
Mason Spottek (Binghamton/Susquehanna Valley) kept it tight early but their Knight opponents went onto an 8-3 win. The pair of juniors
Jacob Dornsife (Wilmington, DE/Mt. Pleasant) and August Lepique managed two games in their setback against the number two tandem.  A 3-0 deficit in singles was too much to rebound from as the Knights shutout the Red Dragons the rest of the way.
Now 2-4 on the season the Red Dragons then headed down to Camden, NJ on Friday, April 1st to play for the first time Rutgers University. There Oneonta showed superiority on all courts and the Rutgers was shutout. Spottek and Smith at number one doubles were dominant and won handily 8-2. Lepique and Dornsife were shutout winners in the doubles second flight on-route an 8-0 triumph. Those two matches gave Oneonta a 3-0 lead as the number three position for Oneonta won by forfeit. In singles there were some notables as the Red Dragons won handily in the first through fifth positions. Spottek won losing just one game on route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Dornsife double bageled his number two singles opponents 6-0, 6-0. At the third position sophomore
Joshua Mann (East Greenbush/Columbia) moved up in the lineup and trounced on the opportunity also winning in shutout fashion 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore
Yonathan Glattman (Hewlett/Hewlett) got his first official Red Dragon win in fourth singles and did so by also double bagling his foe 6-0, 6-0. First year player/Sophomore
Cole Kirschbaum (Bronx/Community High (NJ)) got the call to play fifth singles and followed that opportunity with getting his first official career win on route to a shutout win 6-0, 6-0. No play was recorded in the sixth flight.
Now 3-4 on the season next up for Oneonta was a first-time matchup against Ramapo College and the Red Dragon got the all-important win on Saturday, April 2nd at Ramapo 7-2. Doubles was an on slaugt for the Red Dragons winning in all three positions. Smith and Spottek were very aggressive at the net and never let their number one doubles foes get into the match on route to an impressive 8-2 triumph. At the second position Lepique and Dornsife were dominant got their second shutout win in as many days sending the Ramapo squad reeling 8-0. Freshman
Noah Khair (New Delhi, INDIA/National Institute of Open Schooling) and Mann joined together in the third doubles position and while threatened with steady play from Ramapo the pair outlasted their opponents 8-6. Yet again a 3-0 lead in tow moving into singles that proved to be too much for the Ramapo squad to a put a dent into. The Red Dragon men were winners on courts 3, 4, 5 and 6 to clinch the 7-2 win over Ramapo. Smith playing today in his normal third spot hit a rough patch in the second set but held onto win in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Dornsife lost the first game in the fourth flight and then ran off 12-consective games on route to his 6-1, 6-0 win. Khair was almost perfect today recording his 6-0, 6-1 win in the fifth spot. Mann on the sixth position was mentally tough after rebounding from a 6-4 first set loss and then raised the level of play winning easily in the second set 6-1 and clinched the seventh point for the Red Dragon men recording the 10-6 super tiebreaker. The victory against Ramapo got the men to the .500 mark on the season.
Next up for the men's tennis is a tough match against RIT on the campus of RIT on Tuesday, April 5th with the action getting underway at 4:00 PM.
