A reflection of the close girls tennis competition between Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool could easily be found in their pair of regular-season clashes in 2014.
They ended up in a split, the Warriors claming the first meeting 4-3 on Sept. 9, but the Northstars prevailing by a 5-2 margin in Wednesday’s regular-season finale, where four of the seven matches went to three sets.
The key to it all, though, was that C-NS swept all three singles contests, starting with Brooke Murphy, who had little trouble defeating Katey Padden 6-2, 6-2.
Both of the other singles matches featured a similar pattern. Madison Murphy won the opening set, and then watched Rachel Foster tie it before pulling it out 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, while Hannah Costello won her first set by that same margin against Chloe Foster, and then slumped before a late push created a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory.
Moving to doubles, both of the Northstars’ points were gained in just two sets. Alyssa Forte, paired again with Elena Iaconis, fought past Anna Baggett and Meaghan Reilly 7-6, 6-4, while Abby Ellis and Megan Tryniski worked together to beat Kristen Glor and Ahnika Krahmer 6-4, 6-3.
At least the Warriors prevented further damage through its grit and determination. Alexandra Ioannidis, teaming with Katelyn Nguyen, rallied past Kristin Inthirakot and Bethany Wicks 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Julie Pento teamed with Julie Stagnitta and got a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win over Kelly Salmons and Karrah Savage.
Liverpool had gone up against Baldwinsville last Monday afternoon, unable to gain any points during a 7-0 defeat to the Bees, and were also shut out 7-0 by Tri-Valley League power Oneida on Tuesday afternoon.
C-NS, meanwhile, tuned up by shutting out Syracuse West by that same 7-0 margin, though the shutout wasn’t preserved until Madison Murphy, in second singles, had to go through three sets to beat Rebecca Lwe 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Elsewhere, Brooke Murphy blanked Kamira Nowlin-Flagg 6-0, 6-0, with Costello defeating Ceikaiyla Cheeks 6-3, 7-5. In doubles, the teams of Inthirakot-Wicks and Isabella Orlando-Sydney Franco won by the same 6-2, 6-3 scores, with the pairings of Forte-Iaconis and Rachel Allen-Paige Carter also straight-set winners.
The late surge helped C-NS earn the no. 4 seed in the six-team Section III Class A tournament bracket, and on Monday it faces no. 5 seed Oswego in the opening round. The winner will try to topple top seed Fayetteville-Manlius in next Wednesday’s semifinals.
