The SUNY Plattsburgh tennis team continued its SUNYAC schedule last Friday against SUNY Cortland, where the Cardinals fell 9-0 at Cortland.
Plattsburgh State fought hard until the very end, despite being down two of their top players, but could not come out on top. Junior Rukshana Abdeen and senior Sierra Barrett both missed the game for personal reasons..
“That just makes it hard because everybody had moved up, and Cortland had some good players, so that got us off to a tough start,” co-head tennis coach Chris Waterbury said.
The Cards fell 8-4 in each of the three doubles matches, but won at least one game in each singles set.
At the No. 5 spot, sophomore Megan Blake posted Plattsburgh State’s best performance, winning the first set 6-2 before falling 6-3 in both the second and third sets. Freshman Cydney Bond lost 7-6 in the first set at No. 2 after falling 7-3 in a tiebreak. No. 6 Kelly Gloo was unable to finish due to minor illness.
Prior to her retirement, Gloo was undefeated in all of her singles sets.
The Cards posted their first victory in the SUNYAC the next day, defeating Oswego State 9-0 at Oswego.
Plattsburgh State came out on top in each of the three doubles matches. Barrett came back after being absent and won the first match of the day with her partner, Bond, with a score of 8-3 at the No. 1 spot. Sophomore Sarah Hoeffner and Gloo also won with a score of 8-3 at No. 2. At No. 3, junior Erin Wiggins and Blake came out on top 8-4.
The Cards were also won in each of the six singles matches. Hoeffner won the first singles match at the No. 5 spot, winning the first set with a perfect 6-0 and the second set 6-2. At the top spot, Barrett delivered the finishing blow, winning the first set 6-2, and the second set 6-1, guaranteeing Plattsburgh State the victory.
At the No. 2 spot, freshman Alyana Leandry won the first set 6-1 and the second set 6-3. Wiggins also came out on top at No. 6, winning 6-2 in both the first and second sets. Bond prevailed at No. 3, first winning 6-2, second winning 6-1. Finally, at No. 4, Gloo emerged victorious, winning 6-1 in both the first and second set.
“I felt nervous to play fourth, moving up from fifth. They put up a good fight, but I still thought we were the better team,” Gloo said.
Coach Waterbury talked about how satisfied he was with the team this year: “Obviously we could always be better, you can always be better, but I really like the effort collectively. Everybody puts their best foot forward, they compete, they push each other and they’re good teammates for each other, so from that standpoint, I’m very happy.”
The Cards rise to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the SUNYAC. They continue their SUNYAC schedule tomorrow when they visit undefeated SUNY Oneonta at noon.
