SUNY Cortland Athletics

CORTLAND, N.Y. - With darkness settling in more than three and a half hours after the teams began playing, Christina Massoni (West Babylon) earned the decisive point at first singles in a third-set tiebreaker as Cortland defeated visiting St. John Fisher, 4-3, in a non-league women's tennis dual match.
 
Cortland improved to 4-1 with its fourth straight victory, while Fisher dropped to 2-2. The Red Dragons have defeated the Cardinals each of the last three seasons, including a 4-3 road win last year and a 5-2 home win in 2024. Cortland begins SUNYAC play this weekend with home matches versus Oswego on Friday and Oneonta on Saturday.
 
Fisher tied the team score at 3-3 when Mady Etter outlasted the Red Dragons' Anneli Adams (Burnt Hills/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, at fifth singles. First singles remained, with Fisher's Lily Miller winning the first set, 7-5, before Massoni captured the second set, 6-4. Massoni claimed the third set, 7-6, with a 7-1 tiebreaker, for the win and the team victory.
 
Cortland opened with wins in two out of three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead. Reaghan Hughes (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) and Alexandra Thut (Poughquag/Arlington) finished first with a 6-2 win at second doubles, but the Cardinals' Reece Williams and Emma Mihajlovic posted a 6-2 win at third doubles. Massoni and Gabriella Stanley (Buffalo/Niagara-Wheatfield) clinched the team doubles point with a 7-5 win over Adriana Colafranceschi and Isabella Busch.
 
Gracie Guiliano (Rome/Notre Dame) put Cortland ahead 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 win at sixth singles, and Thut extended the lead to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win at fourth singles. Fisher, however, won the next three singles matches to tie the score. Busch won 6-1, 6-4 at number three and Colafranceschi won 6-2, 6-2 at number two prior to Etter's comeback three-set win at number five.