The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida nets home win over New Hartford
Hosts use key comebacks to end regular season with win
Wet weather on May 5 forced Oneida to wait 10 days for a boys tennis rematch with New Hartford, the only Tri-Valley League foe to defeat coach Todd Hicks’ squad this season.
Monday, his players got their chance and came through thanks to some key comebacks.
Oneida swept the doubles matches and got a 7-5, 6-0 victory from Scott Potter in third singles to close the regular season with a 4-3 victory, tying themwith the Spartans for the best record in the TVL.
“A great win for our team,” said coach Hicks. “They showed a lot of resiliency. The boys knew the championship was on the line. Having Scott Potter as the deciding point was a good scenario for us as the match unfolded.”
First singles went, as expected, to Spartans star John Robert Corasanti. The New Hartford junior kept his undefeated record in tact, improving to 11-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Oneida’s Noah Savage.
Oneida had an equally impressive performance in first doubles fromJordan O’Connell and Ajay Hicks. O’Connell had a strong forehand return on a serve and an overhand smash at the net to set the tone during the first game. He added a blistering ace in the fourth
game and Hicks made a nice lunging play at the net as well. The duo took that game for a 4- 0 lead and cruised fromthere to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over the Spartans’ Nathaniel Moretz and Austin Franklin. With the match knotted at 1-1, New Hartford took an edge with its strong singles play. Ethan Lampert defeated Austin Keller 6-2, 6-3 in second singles and Ricki Falvo added a 6-2, 6- 4 fourth singles victory over Kyle Fisher. Oneida, however, kept its hopes alive thanks to some big doubles comebacks. Aidan Hicks and Nolan Rush took their first set in third doubles 6-3 but found themselves trailing 5-2 in the second set. The hosts took the next two games and Hicks followed with a smash at the net for game point in the next game to even the set at 5-5. Hicks and Rush kept rolling, winning the next two games as well to take the match 6-3, 7-5 and earn Oneida’s second point. Kevin Spooner and James Rositer had an even bigger hole to dig out of for the hosts in second doubles. The Oneida duo trailed Dave Mathews and Andrew Benson 4-2 in the first set but fought back to take a 5- 4 lead. Spooner’s strong serving had them within set point but the Spartans rallied back, taking the next game to tie the score at 5-5. Matthews and Benson took the next two games as well to claim the first set. Spooner and Rositer, however, were not deterred. They stormed back in the second set for a 6-1 victory and kept rolling in the third, winning 6-3 to give their team a third point and even the match. With each team having three points, the match came down to the third singles showdown between Potter and Charlie Klempay. Potter fell in a 5-2 hole but clawed his way back to tie the score at 5-5. The following game went to deuce and Klempay returned Potter’s serve wide, giving the Oneida player a 6-5 lead. He took the next game as well to complete the comeback and take the first set and rolled to the second-set victory to clinch the match.