DOUBLES SWEEP GIVES SAINTS 5-4

EDGE OVER ONEONTA

Apr. 27: Sophomore Chris McDonald won both of his doubles and singles matches to lead the St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team to a 5-4 victory over non-conference opponent Oneonta State on Sunday afternoon, as the Saints completed their 2007-2008 season on a high note as they halted the Red Dragons’ winning streak at five.

Junior co-captain Jon Satkowski (Salisbury Mills, NY/Cornwall Central) and McDonald (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) got the visiting team off to a great start as the two were paired up in the No. 1 doubles spot and defeated the Red Dragons’ sophomore Matt Steinhauser and Mark Cannizzaro 8-5 en route to claiming their twelfth victory in the position this season.

Rookies Will Cook (Brookline, MA/Thayer) and Ryan Gillard (Keene, NH/Keene) were able to hold on to an 8-6 victory over Oneonta State’s freshmen Jonathan Dorin and Jeremy Goldberg in the second doubles position. St. Lawrence sophomores Christopher Tamm (Saratoga Springs, NY/Loomis Chaffee) and Chris Rodilosso (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) found themselves evenly matched in the final doubles match up with the Red Dragons’ rookie William Sacco and sophomore Matt Hanson, where extra games were needed to determine a winner, with the Scarlet and Brown emerging victorious with a score of 9-7 to carry a 3-0 advantage into singles play.

McDonald continued to be an integral part to St. Lawrence on the court, as he was one of two Saints to pick up a win in the singles matches and hold off Oneonta as they stormed back to claim four wins at the No. 1, 4, 5, and 6 slots. The sophomore defeated Dorin in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, while teammate junior Pete Abernethy (Rye, NY/Pomfret) claimed victory at the No. 2 position, overpowering Hanson 6-3, 6-2.

Satkowski and Oneonta’s Steinhauser duked it out in the first singles match of the day, with both taking a set a piece before Steinhauser came back to claim the win, 6-2, 2-6, 11-9.

The No. 4, 5, and 6 positions were swept by Oneonta, with Cook falling to Cannizzaro 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the four spot, while Gillard fell in straight sets to Goldberg, 6-3, 7-5. Senior co-captain Amin Danai ( Amherst, NY/Amherst Pelham Regional) lost at the No. 6 position to Sacco 6-3, 6-3.

It was the final match of Danai’s collegiate career, who completes his senior campaign with an impressive 12-6 overall singles record in 2007-2008 and a 38-33 career mark.

St. Lawrence completes the season with a 13-6 overall record and a 3-1 conference record, while Oneonta falls to 10-6 with the loss.

SAINTS USE SOLID DOUBLES PLAY

TO HANDLE DUTCHMEN, 8-1

April 26: The St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team picked up their eighth win in the last nine matches with an 8-1 triumph over Union College in Schenectady, NY on Saturday.

The Saints’ used a balanced roster to sweep the doubles portion of the match and win each of the top-five singles showdowns. Junior Jon Satkowski and sophomore Chris McDonald swept Union’s Vic Ravikumar and Sam Ringel at No. 1 doubles 8-0, while the rookie tandem of Ryan Gillard and Will Cook handled Alex Katz and Matt Goodnow 8-1.

St. Lawrence’s No. 3 doubles team of Chris Rodilosso and Christopher Tamm made it a 3-0 sweep with a tight 9-7 win against Joe Wold and Tom Haynes.

Each of the Saints’ five singles wins came in straight sets, as Satkowski beat Wold at No. 1 6-0, 6-1 and junior Pete Abernethy defeated Katz 6-0, 6-3. McDonald overmatched Ravikumar 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, while Cook and Gillard won at No. 4 and 5, respectively, over Haynes (6-3, 6-1) and Saul Kurtz (6-2, 6-4) to complete

St. Lawrence’s scoring.

The Dutchmen’s lone point came at No. 6 singles as Goodnow outlasted senior co-captain Amin Danai 6-2, 3-6, 10-4.

St. Lawrence, which improved to 12-6 (3-1) on the season with the victory, will conclude the 2008 season on Sunday at Oneonta beginning at 11:00am.

SAINTS HOLD OFF HAMILTON TO

WIN FINAL HOME MATCH, 7-2

April 23: Junior Jon Satkowski and first year student Ryan Gillard each won twice on Wednesday afternoon as the St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team defeated Hamilton College by the score of 7-2 on “Senior Day” at the Sammis Tennis Courts in Canton, NY.

The Saints (11-6) grabbed a 3-0 lead in doubles play and were able to hold off the Continentals (3-9) in singles play. Satkowski and sophomore partner Chris McDonald knocked off Hamilton’s No. 1 doubles team of Greg Kreitzer and Jared Solomon 8-4, while the rookie tandem of Will Cook and Gillard handled Jared Friedberg and Mike Moreno 8-5.

In the final doubles showdown, sophomores Chris Rodilosso and Christopher Tamm edged Pete Erwin and Ben Freeman 8-4 to put St. Lawrence in control of the match up 3-0.

However, Hamilton would make it a match in singles play, picking up wins at No. 3 and 4 singles. Solomon beat McDonald at No. 3 7-6 (5), 6-1, while Moreno narrowly defeated Cook 7-5, 6-4.

Satkowski and Gillard responded when their team needed them most, though, picking up singles wins at the No. 1 and 4 spots, respectively, to regain control of the match. Satkowski knocked off Friedberg in straight sets,

6-1, 6-4, while Gillard answered with a 6-1, 6-4 performance against Erwin to give St. Lawrence their coveted fifth point.

Both the No. 2 and 6 singles matches proved to be the most competitive, as junior Pete Abernethy faced Kreitzer in the second spot while senior co-captain Amin Danai took on Dan Gross in the final match. Though St. Lawrence won each of the matches, the points wouldn’t come easy as Abernethy won in a third set superbreaker 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 and Danai won in two tie-breaks 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3).

Wednesday’s match was the last home contest for Danai, who has been an integral piece of the Saints’ line-up since his rookie season when he was named the squad’s Most Improved Player. He is a two-year captain, and after today’s win, owns a career singles mark of 41-32 including a 12-4 record this season.

The Scarlet and Brown will head to Union College for the final Liberty League dual-match of the season on Friday, April 26 before finishing the 2008 schedule on Sunday at Oneonta.