ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team wrapped up the fall season on a strong note, shutting out Misericordia and Alfred University, 7-0, Saturday afternoon. The Red Dragons won all 18 courts on the day as six Red Dragons went 3-0 in their matches. The team finished the fall season 4-0 overall with a combined match score of 26-2. The Cougars fell to 2-3 on the season and the Saxons are 0-1 in their fall play.
Oneonta 7, Misericordia 0
Oneonta dropped only two games in doubles play to Misericordia. The Red Dragons secured court No. 3 by default, with juniors
Nate Inzerillo (Center Moriches/Center Moriches) and
Braden Greenberg (Northport, N.Y./Northport) representing the team, then won courts one and two with a 6-1 score. Junior
William Schmid (Yonkers/Salesian HS) and sophomore
Chris Chippari (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C Ketcham) defeated Dalton Alexander and Christian Mazza on the No. 1 court, while sophomore
Seth Cheung (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and freshman
Sean Lippman (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) beat Noah Ceklosky and Eli Harding on the No. 2 court.
In singles play, Ritterman jumped up to the No. 1 court and won in straight sets to Alexander. The freshman took set one, 6-3, then had to fight for the second set, winning it in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3). Freshmen
Ryan Geller (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y./Cornwall) and
Peter Pitaleff (Garrison, N.Y./Highland Falls Fort Montgomery) went up to courts two and three, respectively, and dominated their opponents in straight sets. Geller recorded a pair of 6-1 sets against Mazza on court two, and Pitaleff bageled Harding in his second set of a 6-2, 6-0 win. Greenberg defeated Dominic Brower in straight sets on the No. 5 court, 6-1, 6-3, and Inzerillo won by default on the No. 6 court.
Cheung had a battle with Ceklosky on court No. 4 but was able to come away with the victory in the super tiebreaker. He routed his Cougar opponent in the first set, 6-1, before Ceklosky gained set two in a 7-5 tiebreaker. In the match tiebreaker, Cheung was able to gain an edge over Ceklosky for the victory, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-6).
Oneonta 7, Alfred 0
Compared to Misericordia, Oneonta had closer matches in doubles play against Alfred, however the Red Dragons were able to sweep all three courts. In a back-and-forth contest on the No. 1 court, Chippari and Schmid got the upper hand over Ricardo Alvarez and Breece Erickson for a 7-5 win. Ritterman and Pitaleff teamed up on the No. 2 court and bested Mike Roberts and Matthew Bittel, 6-1, while Geller and Cheung came away with a 6-4 victory against Walker Waldon and Mark Ungurian on the No. 3 court.
The Red Dragons won all six singles courts in straight sets against the Saxons. Chippari had a close first set against Alvarez on the No. 1 court before he bageled him in the second set for a 6-4, 6-0 win. Schmid overwhelmed Erickson on the No. 2 court, winning 6-4, 6-2, and Ritterman outlasted Roberts on the No. 3 court, 6-4, 6-3. Geller recorded a first set bagel against Bittel in his 6-0, 6-1 rout on the No. 4 court. Pitaleff walked away with a 6-2, 6-1 win on the No. 5 court against Bill Tran and Greenberg defeated Waler Waldon on the No. 6 court, 7-5, 6-1.
Following the singles victories, Geller and Pitaleff improved to 4-0 in singles play this season, Chippari and Schmid are 3-0, and both Greenberg and Ritterman moved up to 3-1.
Oneonta is on break from competition until February 15 when they travel to Canton to play St. Lawrence.
