The College of Staten Island men’s tennis unit scored an impressive win this afternoon, fighting off Oneonta State by a 5-4 count at the CSI Tennis Center, running their winning streak up to seven games.  The win for CSI upped the Dolphins to 8-3 overall, while the Red Dragons fell to 6-10.

The Dolphins got off to a nice start, getting out to a well-earned, 2-1, lead after doubles.  Oneonta took the No. 2 spot as Kiran Narsipur and Micheal DeNigris scored an 8-4 win there.  But CSI stormed back, and the top unit of Andrew Adia and Matt Vesci were able to outlast James Blatchly and Brian Roser, 8-6.  

If that weren’t competitive enough, eyes then turned to the battle at No. 3 where’s CSI’s Tao Lin and Alex Tsui were locked up with Oneonta’s Darren Pikul and Alexander Reiley.  The two teams traded shots until they finished deadlocked at 8-8.  A seven-point run-off followed, and there, it was the CSI duo that was able to score a 7-5 win, giving CSI the 2-1 overall edge.

That bled into singles, and the competition stayed fierce.  Only two of the six flights would be finished in two sets.  In the No. 3 Singles spot, Chris Pinto for CSI was crisp in a 6-2, 6-1, win while one flight down, Reiley was able to take down CSI’s Raymond Hwang, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5).  That made the overall score 3-2 in CSI’s favor and from there, not much would separate the two sides.

Oneonta grabbed the top spot as DeNigris overturned Adia, 0-6, 6-3, 6-3.  One flight lower, however, Vesci was able to keep CSI ahead with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, win over Narispur.  Down at No. 5, Roser got Oneonta even with a three-set win over Mukhiddin Nuriddinov, and that meant that it would all come down to No. 6 Singles.

There, Tsui was inserted into the lineup due to an injury to Akaki Dundua,  He would lose the first set to Pikul, 6-3, but Tsui responded with a 6-4 win in the second set.  Down to a final set, Tsui would prevail, scoring a nail-biting, 7-5, win to give CSI the 5-4 win.

The win helped keep CSI’s perfect April record intact.  Up next for the Dolphins will be a road test against Ramapo College on Wednesday at 4pm in Mahwah, NJ.  The CSI women will also participate in the match as part of their spring season.