FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta women's tennis team took care of business and defeated Fredonia on the road in SUNYAC play, 6-1, Saturday afternoon. Oneonta won eight of the nine courts and had five members win their respective doubles and singles matches. The Red Dragons improved to 4-5 on the season, 1-3 in SUNYAC play, while the Blue Devils dropped to 0-10 overall and 0-5 in conference play.
Oneonta gained control of each doubles match early and swept all three courts for the doubles point. The Red Dragons' top duo of junior
Haley Peck (West Point, N.Y./James I. O'Neil) and sophomore
Annika Cripe (Islip, N.Y./Islip) beat Lucy Prevet and Allison Bartoszek on the No. 1 court, 6-2, and improved to 5-4 as a team this season. Sophomore
Taylor Plue (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) and freshman
Dakota Jimenez (Poughquag, NY/Arlington) outlasted Gabriella Farr and Amelia Stathatos on court No. 2 for a 6-4 win, and freshmen tandem
Trinity Lyons (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) and
Kiersten Rufrano (Oneonta, NY) upended Emily Solazzo and Rylyn Tunstall on court No. 3, 6-1. Jimenez and Plue are now 3-2 as a team this season, while Lyons and Rufrano begin 1-0 as a pairing.
The Red Dragons kept the momentum going in singles play and won five of the six matches. On the No. 1 court, Peck defeated Prevet, 6-4, 6-1, for her third singles win of the season and improved to 2-2 in conference singles. Cripe and Plue each bageled their opponents in the first set of their singles matches. Cripe outplayed Farr on court No. 2, 6-0, 6-3, while Plue shut down Bartoszek on the No. 3 court, 6-0, 6-1. Cripe is now 4-4 on season, all on court No. 2, and Plue is 4-3 overall in singles. Lyons cruised past Tunstall on court No. 6 in straight 6-1 sets to improve to 4-2 in singles play this season, 2-1 against SUNYAC opponents.
In the first set of Rufrano's match against Solazzo on court No. 4, the two battled one another into a tiebreak, where Rufrano dominated play, 7-2, to win the first set. The Oneonta, N.Y., native held off Solazzo in the second set to win the match, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. The victory was Rufrano's second of the season and first against a conference team.
Jimenez had a close match on court No. 5 against Stathatos, but came up short. The freshman won the first set over her Blue Devil opponent, 6-4, before Stathatos took set two, 6-3, to force a super tiebreaker. The points went back and forth in the third set, however it was Stathatos that got the upper hand in the end, 4-6, 6-3, 7-10.
Oneonta is back in action on Thursday, October 9, for the Battle of the Red Dragons against Cortland at 3 pm at the Dr. Heissan Tennis Courts.
