HILTON HEAD, SC. -- The Oneonta men's tennis team traveled south to Hilton Head, South Carolina for some spring break matches on Monday and Tuesday. Oneonta competed against Salve Regina University (RI.) and Macalester College (MN.) on day one, then the No. 4 nationally ranked and reigning National Champions Denison University (OH.) and No. 39 nationally ranked Stevens Tech (NJ) on the final day. The Red Dragons swept Salve Regina 7-0, then were tripped up by Denison and Stevens, 7-0, and Macalester, 6-0. The results moved Oneonta to 7-8 overall this season.
"Overall, a solid outing for our men on their spring break trip," said Head Coach
Brian Roser. "Started off with a struggle free win against Salve and then played some tough competition."
Oneonta 7, Salve Regina 0
Oneonta started the trip off with a 7-0 shutout over Salve Regina.
In doubles play, junior
Seth Cheung (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and freshman
Jake Mayola (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) got their first win as a doubles pair with a 6-0 bagel win over Kobi Bondzie and Rei Otake on court three. The Seahawks evened the doubles series with a 6-2 decision on court two, leaving it down to senior
William Schmid (Yonkers/Salesian HS) and sophomore
Sean Lippman (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) on court one against Kole Pinto and Jacob Faulise. The teams traded games with one another, and the match had to be settled in a tiebreaker where Schmid and Lippman outlasted Pinto and Faulise for the match, 7-6 (7-4), and the doubles point.
The Red Dragons held on to the momentum from doubles play and cruised in singles play to win all six courts.
"We continued our dominance in singles with winning in straight sets," Coach Roser commented.
Junior
Chris Chippari (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) defeated Faulise in a tough match on the top singles court, 6-3, 7-5. Schmid flipped Chippari's set results and bested Pinto in a close one on court two, 7-5, 6-3.
Senior
Braden Greenberg (Northport, N.Y./Northport) won court six in double bagel style, 6-0, 6-0, over Bondzie, while sophomore
Jaden Ritterman (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) dominated Colin Fleet in straight 6-1 sets on court three.
Senior
Nate Inzerillo (Center Moriches/Center Moriches) overwhelmed Otake on court five and bageled him in the second set for a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Sophomore
Peter Pitaleff (Garrison, N.Y./Highland Falls Fort Montgomery) had a competitive matchup on court four against Jesper Jensen, but Pitaleff handled his Seahawk opponent in the end for a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Oneonta 0, Macalester 6
The Red Dragons battled with the Scots in doubles play. Macalester secured court three, however Oneonta tied the doubles portion when Pitaleff and Ritterman upended Beckett Annes and Derek Chen in a 6-3 victory on court two.
For the doubles point, Schmid and Chippari were in an intense back-and-forth match with Jordan Doi and Charles Flaman on court one. The match went into a tiebreaker and unfortunately, Doi and Flaman gained the upper hand for the 7-6 (7-4) decision, and the match point.
"Ritterman and Pitaleff got a huge win at second doubles against a strong Macalester team," Coach Roser continued. "Chippari and Ritterman kept the great play going into singles taking them to three sets on courts one and three."
Despite the results, the Red Dragons had the opportunity to win several singles courts against the Scots, as two went into three sets and another two that tightly contested 6-4 sets.
Chippari went up against Doi on court one, who won the first set 6-2 before the Red Dragon junior secured set two, 6-3. In the third set tiebreaker, Doi had the advantage and took the match, 6-2, 3-6, 10-3. On court three, Ritterman faced Kangyu Li and won the first set 6-3. Li slipped by the Red Dragon in the second set, 7-5, to force the tiebreaker, then he secured the third set for the match, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6.
Schmid kept it close with Flaman on court two, though the Scot came away with the match, 6-4, 6-3. Inzerillo battled with Zach Dajani in the first set, but Dajani managed to hold on for the eventual 6-4, 6-2 decision. Pitaleff fell to Chen on court four, 6-2, 6-0, and freshman
Amine Abidi () had his match on court six against Annes recorded as unfinished. Due to weather, the matches were moved indoors and the teams were unable to complete all six singles matches.
Oneonta 0, No. 4 Denison 7
Denison, the 2025 National Champions, earned all three doubles courts for the doubles point. Chippari and Schmid were tripped up on court one to Chika Nwaozuzu and Ethan Green, 6-2. Cheung and Mayola fell to Kyle Patrick and Mason Conlin, 6-1, on court three, and Pitaleff and Ritterman dropped to Jacob Peterson and Balraj Idnani on court two, 6-0.
"The guys fought well against the reigning National Champions, Denison and top 40 in the country Stevens."
In singles play, the Big Red won each court in straight sets. Ritterman and Pitaleff were both bested, 6-1, 6-2, on courts three and four, respectively. Chippari was defeated on court one by Andreas Chapides, 6-2, 6-0. Schmid came up short to Aidan Borosko on court two, 6-0, 6-1, while Mayola stumbled on court six against Ishwar Idnani, 6-1, 6-0.
Oneonta 0, No. 39 Stevens Tech. 7
Stevens came away with all three courts in doubles play for the doubles match point. Ritterman and Pitaleff were bested on court two by Samvid Andhare and Dhaivik Chenemilla, 6-2. Inzerillo and Abidi dropped to Elias Alkio and Tristan Wroe on court three, 6-1, and Chippari and Schmid fell to Max-William Kanz and Renat Kramin on court one, 6-0.
Stevens kept the momentum into singles play and won the six courts in straight sets. Ritterman kept Chenemilla on his toes early, however the Duck walked away with the match, 6-3, 6-2. Pitaleff fell short to Wroe on court three, 6-2, 6-1, while Schmid competed on court one and was beaten by Kanz, 6-0, 6-2. Both Abidi and Cheung were upended 6-1, 6-0, on courts five and six, respectively.
The Red Dragons are back home for their next match against Union on Thursday, April 2, at the Dr. Heissan '63 Tennis Courts.
