Score: SUNY Oneonta 8 – Elmira College 1
Records: Oneonta (2-2), Elmira (0-3)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, N.Y.
 
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's tennis team played in its second match of the spring season this evening at the Murray Athletic Center, as the Soaring Eagles faced the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta for a non-league match. Elmira took one of the three doubles matches, but would fall short in all six singles matches en route to an 8-1 setback to Oneonta.
 
Oneonta opened the match with back-to-back doubles wins at the third and second spots. The Red Dragons claimed an 8-3 win at the third position, before edging out Elmira at the second spot, 8-5. Chris Konow '18 and Stephen Gervase '20 trailed 6-3 at second doubles, but made things interesting down the stretch with a hold and a break of serve to pull to within 6-5. Then on the ensuing service game by EC, the two teams traded deuce points a handful of times until Oneonta was able to string together consecutive points to break Elmira's serve for the 8-5 win.
 
Elmira's lone victory in the doubles portion came at the top spot, as Patrick Tracey '18 and Theo Tran '20 pulled out a thrilling 9-8 (5) victory. The duo matched their counterparts from Oneonta game-for-game, until the Soaring Eagles pulled out in front at 7-6 with Tran serving for the match. The Red Dragons fought off a pair of match points, before breaking Tran to level the contest at 7-7.
 
However, Elmira responded with a break of its own on the ensuing Red Dragon service game, putting Tracey at the service line to close out the match. The wild back-and-forth match continued on Tracey's serve, as Oneonta broke at 40-15 to force a tiebreaker.
 
In the breaker, Elmira took a 5-4 lead thanks to a mini break, which gave Tran a chance to serve out the match. However, missed opportunities at the net on the 5-4 point led to another mini break, this one in favor of the Red Dragons, as the tiebreaker score leveled at 5-5.
 
Oneonta tested Tracey with a flurry of heavy shots at the net on the next point, after the junior inadvertently dumped a close-range overhead on the previous point. This time, however, Tracey proved to be up for the challenge and came up with a trio of impressive last-second volleys to give him and his partner a 6-5 lead. Tracey and Tran were finally able to close out the match on the next point, clinching just the second doubles victory of the season for the Purple and Gold.
 
Singles action was controlled by the Red Dragons, who won all six matches in straight sets. After dropping the first set at 6-1, Elmira's top singles player, Tran, bounced back nicely in the second. Tran was up a break early in the second set, but would eventually come up short down the stretch by a single break at 6-4.
 
Anthony Colavito '20 also had a good match at the number two spot, falling 6-2, 6-4. Tracey had a similar match at the third spot, as he dropped a close first set 6-4, before losing the second set at love.
 
Matches at fourth and fifth singles were more routine for the Red Dragons, as they won all but two games en route to the two victories. Jordan Curtis '19 had a tight match at the sixth position, similar to that of his teammates at the top half of the lineup. Curtis lost the opening set, 6-1, but pushed his opponent to the brink in the second. However, the second-year netter would fall short by a single break, 6-4.
 
Scores
Singles
1. Joseph D'Orazio (ONEONTA) def. Theo Tran (ELMIRA) 6-1, 6-4
2. Michael Nelson (ONEONTA) def. Anthony Colavito (ELMIRA) 6-2, 6-4
3. Michael DeNigris (ONEONTA) def. Patrick Tracey (ELMIRA) 6-4, 6-0
4. Cole Laffitte (ONEONTA) def. Chris Konow (ELMIRA) 6-0, 6-0
5. Zach Lasky (ONEONTA) def. Yaniv Kogan (ELMIRA) 6-2, 6-0
6. Nicholas Fox (ONEONTA) def. Jordan Curtis (ELMIRA) 6-1, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. Tran/Tracey (ELMIRA) def. D'Orazio/Nelson (ONEONTA) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Distler/Fox (ONEONTA) def. Gervase/Konow (ELMIRA) 8-5
3. Lasky/Ammirati (ONEONTA) def. Colavito/Kogan (ELMIRA) 8-3
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,4,1,3,5,6)
 
News and Notes

• Elmira's overall record dropped to 0-3 during the 2016-17 campaign.
• EC's home record stands at 0-2 on the year.
• The Soaring Eagles were swept in singles for the first time this season.
• Tran earned his first collegiate victory with a 9-8 (5) win at first doubles.
• Tracey earned his first doubles win of the season.

 
Up Next
Elmira is back in action on Saturday, March 4th, when the Soaring Eagles host the Lakers of Oswego State. The non-conference match is set to take place at EC's Murray Athletic Center at 1:00 p.m.