By Rohan Ahluwalia
Staff Writer
The women’s and men’s tennis teams have concluded their seasons this week, both ending on bright notes.
During the last week of the season, the men won both games against Ramapo College and State University of New York at Oneonta, while the women won only game during the week, against Oneonta.
The men took on Ramapo College on April 24 at the College’s outdoor tennis courts. They started in fantastic fashion, winning all three doubles match-ups by a score of 8-3.
Junior Matt Puig paired up with sophomore Thomas Wright as they defeated Ramapo’s Willen Feygin and Adam Patrovics. Juniors Omar Bokhari and Tim Gavornik then teamed up to defeat Mike Abelev and Kevin Ilinets. Freshmen Sean Reilly and Andrew Mok won against Chris Yip and Brendan Hines.
In singles competition, Puig came out on top against Ramapo’s Adam Patrovics in straight sets 6-2 and 6-1. Gavornik also defeated Kevin Ilinets in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-1, before Wright got the better of Brendan Hines, 6-0 and 6-1. Junior Achyuth Balijepalle confirmed the victory for the Lions with a straight set victory over Chris Yip, 6-1 and 6-2.
The victory over Ramapo College snapped a four-game losing-streak for the men as they headed into their final match of the season against Oneonta. With both the men and women playing on Saturday, April 28, the Lions celebrated Senior Day by congratulating five seniors and sending them off with victories.
In the men’s game, Lions took two of the three doubles matches. Puig and Wright earned their second victory as a duo for the week by defeating Oneonta junior Nicholas Fox and sophomore Marco Ammirati 8-3. Bokhari and Gavornik then earned a 8-4 victory over seniors Zach Lasky and Timothy Distler to give the Lions the lead going into singles.
In singles, the Lions managed to earn five victories from the six matches played, all in straight sets. Junior Mitchel Sanders began proceedings, defeating Ammirati 6-2 and 6-2. Puig then earned a victory over Lasky before his doubles partner Wright confirmed a victory over senior Cole Laffitte. Gavornik and Balijepalle then finished the game with defeats by Fox and freshman Riley Smith respectively.
The Lions concluded their season by defeating the Oneonta women 9-0. In doubles, juniors Alyssa Baldi and Sneha Rangu continued their impressive partnership with a dominating 8-0 victory over Oneonta’s freshman Mya Lipscomb and sophomore Danielle Swierczyna. Senior Maddy Stoner partnered with junior Grace Minassian to defeat freshman Julieta Eulau and senior Samantha Felice 8-3. Finally, senior Danna Tsay teamed up with sophomore Audrey Chen to earn a 8-0 victory over freshmen Gianna Papini and Dorothy Zeisler.
In the singles competition, the women won all of their matches in straight sets. Rangu defeated Eulau while her doubles partner Baldi won over Swierczyna. Stoner then completed her college tennis career with a victory over Papini, 6-0 and 6-2. Senior Brittany Reedman also concluded her tennis career with the Lions with a victory over Oneonta junior Michelle Halpern (6-1, 6-2).
Minassian and Chen then concluded the perfect day for the Lions with victories over Mya Lipscomb and Samantha Felice respectively.
“This was a great season for us on many levels,” said head men’s and women’s tennis coach Scott Dicheck. “I am really proud of our seniors as well, they have worked really hard during their time with us.”
The men concluded the season with an 8-6 record while the women finished with a 13-1 record, including nine 9-0 victories.
