SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's tennis team opened the team competition portion to the season with a split result at the Union Garnet Cup, Saturday afternoon. Oneonta came up short in the opening match to Manhattanville, 6-1, before beating Farmingdale, 6-1. Junior
Ryan Geller (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y./Cornwall) went 3-1 on the day, winning the lone point for the Red Dragons against the Valiants, while sophomore
Bryant Denza () recorded his first win with the team in doubles play against the Rams. The results give Oneonta a 1-1 start to this season.
"Happy the way we ended our day at the Garnet Cup," said Head Coach
Brian Roser. "We faced a strong, much-improved Manhattanville team in the first round. As our first team competition in the fall, we just weren't quite ready for the level to compete required in that match. However, we bounced back with a very convincing win against Farmingdale, the defending Skyline champions and a team that gave us a tough match last spring."
Oneonta 1, Manhattanville 6
Geller earned the Red Dragons lone point on court four in singles play against Muhammad Abdullah. Abdullah took the first set before Geller forced the third set tiebreaker, where he outlasted his Valiant opponent to win the match, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.
Junior
Jaden Ritterman (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) had an identical start in his singles match on court two against Elouan Charretteur. The Red Dragon forced the third set tiebreaker with a 6-1 second set, but Charretteur came away with the match, 6-0, 1-6, 10-3. Junior
Sean Lippman (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) had a battle on court five against Nick Gervasi. Lippman went into a second set tiebreaker for a chance at a third set, however Gervasi took the second set for the match, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
On the top singles court, senior
Chris Chippari (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) was a few points away from winning the first set tiebreaker against Kazuma Kato, until Kato earned the first set, then the second for a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 final. Junior
Peter Pitaleff (Garrison, N.Y./Highland Falls Fort Montgomery) and sophomore
Jake Mayola (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) dropped their respective singles matches in straight sets.
Manhattanville led the match off by sweeping all three doubles matches. Chippari and Geller had the closest match on court two, with a back-and-forth contest that Mex Neny and Abdullah ended up taking, 7-5. Junior
Seth Cheung (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and Lippman fell short to Sami Badre-Hume and Gervasi on court three, 6-3.
Oneonta 6, Farmingdale 1
The Red Dragons started off hot against the Rams by sweeping the doubles matches. Chippari and Geller overpowered Henri Pothier and Kwaku Agyeman on the top court, 6-1, while Pitaleff and Ritterman also defeated their opponents, Emil Sabovic and Luke Plana, 6-1, on court two. Bryan picked up his first Red Dragon win on court three as he teamed up with Lippman to beat Myles Freelin and Victor Bories, 6-2.
Chippari continued Oneonta's momentum into singles play and bested Pothier on the top court, 6-2, 6-1. Geller finished his match shortly after Chippari, as he cruised past Dan Zindani in straight 6-2 sets on court four.
Ritterman, Pitaleff and Mayola all won their singles matches in a third set tiebreaker. Ritterman outlasted Agyeman on court two, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 10-7, while Pitaleff won court three against Michael Lerman, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8. Mayola came out on top over Bories on court six, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
"Hopefully, the guys gained a valuable perspective today on where we stand and where we need to be," Coach Roser concluded. "We're excited for what lies ahead as we prepare for our inaugural season in the Empire 8 this spring!"
The Red Dragons will return to action for the start of the spring season on Saturday, February 6, when they travel to Madison, New Jersey for a tri-match with Drew and TCNJ starting at 10 am.
