FIGHTING TIGER MEN’S TENNIS PLACES 3RD AT 2007 NJCAA REGION III TOURNAMENT

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s tennis team closed the season with a third place finish at the 2007 NJCAA Region III Division III Championship Tournament hosted by Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY but played at the SUNY Cobleskill Tennis Complex due to inclement weather conditions this past Saturday April 28th and Sunday April 29th. The third place finish marks the Fighting Tigers best team finish in over a decade at the event.

“I think that we did much better with a third place finish as a team than many people expected us too,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Scott Hill. “We had a strong first day of the tournament advancing to the tournament finals at the first, second and third singles and to the semifinals at all three doubles positions. The second day we competed hard in all of our matches but unfortunately we didn’t come away with the wins we needed.”

Fighting Tiger number one singles Steve Weiss, Getzville, NY, Williamson North High School, dropped his championship match to Onondaga by scores of 6-2 and 6-1 while at the number two singles senior Andy Steiner, Perry, NY, Perry High School, fell to Broome Community College in a hard fought match by scores of 2-6, 6-3 and 4-6. Freshman John Hazelton, Greenville, NY, Greenville High School, also lost in the finals of the number three singles by scores of 5-7, 6-4 and 4-6 Broome Community College.

In doubles, Steve Weiss and Andy Steiner lost in the first doubles semifinals to Broome Community College 2-6, 6-4 and 5-7 while at the number two doubles John Hazelton and freshman Greg Klopfer, Voorheesville, NY, Voorheesville High School, lost in the semifinals to Onondaga Community College by scores of  7-6, 4-6 and 4-10. At the number three doubles position senior Ashok Ramani, Valatie, NY, Ichabod Crane High School, and Andrew Crane, Exeter, ME, Dexter Regional High School, fell to Broome Community College by scores of 6-4 and 6-1.

With the 2007 season in the books, Fighting Tiger Head Coach Scott Hill was reflective looking at the 2007 campaign and already thinking about 2008.

“The losses of Andy Steiner and Steve Weiss will definitely be difficult to overcome as they have been among the upper echelon of our region these past two years but I think that we have a solid base to build off of with Greg Klopfer, Andrew Crane and John Hazelton coming back and we’ll move forward from there,” said the Fighting Tiger Head Coach.