COBLESKILL MEN’S TENNIS PLACES 4TH AT NJCAA REGION III CHAMPIONSHIPS, WEISS WINS REGION’S #1 SINGLES TITLE

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s tennis team closed out the 2006 season placing fourth at the NJCAA Region III Division III Championship Tournament hosted by Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, NY over the weekend. For the Fighting Tigers it was their first regional tournament appearance since 1998 after a season that saw them post a 7-2 overall mark and win the first-ever Mountain Valley Conference Championship in program history with a perfect 4-0 record versus league opponents. The Cobleskill program also posted one of the best turnaround seasons in the NJCAA Division III Men’s Tennis ranks this year after finishing 0-9 in 2005.

Fighting Tiger freshman number one single Steve Weiss, Getzville, NY, Williamson North High School, provided the highlight of the weekend to the program. Weiss became the first player in Cobleskill men’s tennis history to win an individual championship at the number one position after stunning previously unbeaten and number one seeded Chris Gorloeski of Broome Community College in straight sets by scores of 7-5 and 6-4. With the victory the Getzville, NY native has now earned a place in the 2006 NJCAA Division III National Championship Tournament to be hosted by Collin Community College in Plano, TX from May 16th through May 20th. The talented freshman has also been named to the First Team All-NJCAA Region III Team for his efforts.

“We were tied for the team title lead going into play on Sunday but things didn’t come together like we wanted them too,” said Fighting Tiger first-year Head Coach Scott Hill. “But that doesn’t take away from the great season we put together as a team or the outstanding performance Steve Weiss had individually this weekend. This was a really special group of young men and I think we brought a real competitive edge back to SUNY Cobleskill Tennis this year and now we’re extremely excited about Steve going to the nationals. This year: we won the conference championship for the first time in program history, we’re going to have a number of people selected to the All-Mountain Valley Conference Team, we went back to the regional tournament and we won the most matches of any Cobleskill team going back to 1997. Our guy’s are a little bit disappointed about the way we finished but they have nothing to be ashamed of about the season.”

TIGER NOTES:  Steve Weiss and freshman women’s team number one singles Christina Gray, Clifton Park, NY, Shenendehowa High School, were the Region III Individual Champions this season. Gray will be representing the Fighting Tigers; at the 2006 NJCAA National Championships hosted by the Randolph Tennis Center, in Tucson, Arizona from May 6th thru May 12th of 2006.