In a match that saw the College of Staten Island concede two flights, the Dolphins dropped a 5-4 nail-biter to the visiting Rams of Farmingdale State College, in a non-conference affair held at the CSI Tennis Center earlier today. The loss slips the Dolphins to 0-4 to start the 2009 campaign.

CSI got off to a rough start, as the team was forced to concede the No. 3 Doubles and No. 6 Singles flights because the team was underrepresented at the outset. The concession gave FSC a 2-0 lead that the Dolphins could not climb out of, despite some great tennis on the court itself.

Play began with doubles, and even though the FSC doubles team of Oshea Davis and Kate McEntee were able to get by CSI's Gabriella Villarruel and Fabiana Iannuzzi, the Dolphins countered with a win at the No. 2 Doubles flight. The team of Qing Li and Taylor Moran were victorious; scoring a very impressive, 8-3, win over the Rams' Gina Cane and Vanessa Josma. After doubles, CSI was behind 3-1 with five singles flights to play.

CSI knew they had a shot at the win, but it was Farmingdale that quickly seized control. Wins by Davis and McEntee broke FSC's lead open at 5-1, and from there, the Rams clinched the win. Still, the valiant Dolphins fought the entire win, and followed with some impressive wins.

The first to score a victory was CSI's Li, who improved to 3-1 in singles this season with a 6-4, 6-0 win over FSC's Josma at the No. 4 position. Over at No. 5, CSI's Nancy Almazo fought off a pesky injury to get by Simonette Clark, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6, to make it 5-3 overall. Finally at No. 3 Singles, Iannuzzi took a tough first set, 7-5, and then followed with a convincing second set, 6-3, to win her flight, making the score a respectable, 5-4 final.

“This was by far the best tennis we have played this season,” said head coach Paul Ricciardi. “We're going to keep building and getting better and things are starting to materialize for us. We were very close today.”

CSI will get a couple days break before returning to action on Sunday in a non-conference test at Mount Saint Mary at 1pm.