ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team came up short in a thriller against Oswego, 5-4, Monday afternoon. Senior
August LePique (New York, NY/Columbia) and sophomore
William Schmid (Yonkers/Salesian HS) won their respective doubles and singles matches to go 2-0 on the day. The Red Dragons moved to 9-11 on the season while the Lakers improved to 8-3 overall.
LePique and Schmid goosed Trevor Stern and Austin Davis, 8-0, in the No. 1 doubles match and improved to 6-8 on the season. Freshmen
Chris Chippari (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C Ketcham) and
Brayden Stuart (Albertson, N.Y./Herricks HS / New Hyde Park) had a hard-fought match on the No. 2 court against Matthew Mannara and Anthony Marcano but fell, 8-6. Freshman
Zachary Blaakman (Penfield/Penfield High School) and sophomore
Nathaniel Inzerrilo (Center Moriches/Center Moriches) also had a close match on the No. 3 court but dropped it against Ethan Bannochie and Zachary Demott, 8-5, and the Lakers went into singles play ahead, 2-1.
LePique and Schmid were both one game away from a double bagel victory, as they routed their singles opponents on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, respectively. LePique defeated Davis, 6-0, 6-1 to improve to 7-8 on the year, and Schmid bested Stern, 6-1, 6-0, improving to 9-7 this season. Chippari had a rematch against Mannara, one of his opponents from his doubles match, in a highly energetic environment on the No. 3 court. The first set went back-and-forth, and it was Chippari who came away with it, then he cruised in the second set for the, 7-5, 6-2 victory. Chippari is now 12-6 in singles play in his first year as a Red Dragon.
Oswego snuck away with the match taking the No. 4-6 singles courts. Blaakman and sophomore
Braden Greenberg (Northport, N.Y./Northport) had both of their matches go down to the wire and end in split decisions. Blaakman faced Bannochie on the No. 5 court where Blaakman fell in a first set tiebreaker then won the second set, yet Bannochie won the third set for the match, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3. Greenberg faced Demott on the No. 6 court and took the first set, 6-4, but Demott secured the second and third sets, 7-5, 6-4.
Oneonta is back in action Tuesday, April 23, for their final WIAC regular season match at Ramapo College at 3 pm.
