ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's tennis team split their matches at the Garnet Cup in Union College, then they bageled Misericordia to go 2-1 in road competition Saturday and Sunday. Oneonta started the weekend with a 6-1 win over the University of Hartford at the Garnet Cup before they fell to the host team, Union, in the final, 0-7. The following day, the team shut out Misericordia, 7-0, and improved to 3-1 this season.
Oneonta 6, Hartford 1
In the Garnet Cup against the Hawks, the Red Dragons swept all three of the doubles matches for the doubles point. Junior
Seth Cheung (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and sophomore
Ryan Geller (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y./Cornwall) overwhelmed Eli Benoit and Kamau Nicholas on court No. 3, 6-1, while sophomore duo
Peter Pitaleff (Garrison, N.Y./Highland Falls Fort Montgomery) and
Jaden Ritterman (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) got the better hand over Jake Short and Anthony Pomares on the No. 2 court, 6-3, for the doubles point. Senior
William Schmid (Yonkers/Salesian HS) and junior
Chris Chippari (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) had a challenge on court No. 1 against Max Poss and Yande Simunyola, however Schmid and Chippari won the match in the tiebreak, 7-6 (7-2), to complete the doubles sweep.
Hartford managed to take one of the singles courts, while Oneonta dominated the other five. Ritterman recorded a double-bagel victory on court No. 4 over Pomares, 6-0, 6-0. Chippari and Schmid each bageled their respective opponents in the first set as Chippari defeated Poss on court No. 1, 6-0, 6-1, and Schmid beat Simunyola on court No. 2, 6-0, 6-3. Pitaleff had a bagel set win in his second set as he cruised past Benoit on the No. 5 court, 6-2, 6-0, and senior
Nate Inzerillo (Center Moriches/Center Moriches) capped off the win with straight 6-4 sets on court No. 6 over Jared Degruttola.
Oneonta 0, Union 7
Oneonta was tripped up by Union College in the Garnet Cup Final as Union took eight of the nine matches played. The Red Dragons had Chippari and Schmid defeated Vivaan Gupta and Simon Phillip on the No. 1 court in doubles play, 6-2, however the Garnet Chargers secured court No. 3, 6-3, then Alain Uzelac and Shreyas Kode squeaked past Pitaleff and Ritterman on court No. 2, 7-5, for the doubles point.
Union took four of the singles courts in straight sets over Oneonta. On the No. 1 singles court, Chippari won the first set over Jesus Sosa, but Sosa forced a super tiebreaker and got the match point, 6-1, 3-6, 10-1. Like Chippari, Schmid won his first set on the No. 2 singles court against Kode, 6-3, however Kode forced a third set tiebreaker with a 6-4 second set. The tiebreaking set was neck and neck, but Kode ended up taking the match, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
Oneonta 7, Misericordia 0
The Red Dragons only dropped one game in their doubles matches against the Cougars. Chippari and Schmid blanked DJ Alexander and Brett Bastian on court No. 1, while Pitaleff and Ritterman bageled Derek Burcik and Noah Ceklosky on the No. 2 court. Geller and sophomore
Aiden Wavra (Katy, TX/Katy) defeated Michael DiSante and Eli Harding on court No. 3, 6-1, to secure Wavra's first doubles match victory. The shutout wins for Chippari and Schmid improved them to 4-0 as a team this season, while Pitaleff and Ritterman jumped to 3-1 overall. Geller improved to 3-1 in doubles play.
Oneonta continued to overpower Misericordia with six wins in singles play to complete the sweep. Schmid bested Alexander on the No. 1 court, 6-2, 6-0, and Geller upended Bastian on court No. 2, 6-1, 6-0. Pitaleff bested Burcik on court No. 3, 6-2, 7-5, Wavra beat Ceklosky on court No. 4, 6-3, 6-2, and Inzerillo dismantled Harding on the No. 5 court, 6-2, 6-1.
Freshman
Jake Mayola (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) recorded his first singles victory as a Red Dragon on court No. 6 over Dominic Brower in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
A few of the Red Dragons will compete next in the ITA Northeast Regional Championships on October 2-5. The team's next match is their first home match of the season on Saturday, October 11, against Alfred at 1 pm.
