The Castleton State College men’s tennis team could almost taste its fifth consecutive championship, but its chances ended abruptly as the Spartans fell to Oneonta State in the North Atlantic Conference championship 9-0 at Tri-City Fitness in Latham, N.Y.The Spartans didn’t win a match on Saturday, but head coach Bruce Moreton says the game was far from a blowout. He said that SUNY-Oneonta had an excellent team and dominates the NAC West teams.

“I was told at the tournament that many of the best tennis players who choose to attend the SUNY schools opt to go to Oneonta,” said Moreton. “Still, although our players didn’t win a match, they played extremely well and the matches were much more competitive than the scores appear.”

Moreton says his team is very excited about next season and will continue to work hard so that next year they will get back to the crossover tournament.

Moreton also added that next year, Oneonta will not be in the NAC East. Instead they will be independent. He said one Oneonta player even told them that Castleton would be very competitive with this year’s second place team in the NAC West.

The team started the year with only two returning players from last year’s undefeated team. They picked up a transfer student, a player who had not played tennis for several years, and two freshmen. Moreton says he is nothing but proud of his teams accomplishments.

“They worked extremely hard both as a team and as individuals to overcome injuries and sickness and once again go undefeated against our traditional opponents now in the NAC East,” said Moreton. “They won their fifth consecutive championship and have not been beaten in conference play since 2005. That is something they can be proud of.”

Castleton had a successful season, boasting a perfect 8-0 NAC East record and a 13-3 overall record. Oneonta State (16-4) awaits word of a NCAA berth as a pool-B team