Once more, the Cazenovia girls tennis team went after the other Lakers side from Skaneateles that, in recent years, had dominated the OHSL Liberty division, including a 6-1 win over Cazenovia when the two Laker sides first met this season on Aug. 27.
With the regular-season league title at stake Thursday afternoon, Cazenovia had a chance at the four points it needed, but lost three different matches in three sets as that other set of Lakers prevailed by a 6-1 margin to stay undefeated.
What made those defeats worse was that, each time, Cazenovia players won the first set, but could not hang on to their early margins.
Ava Gurney had gained a point in singles, ironically needing three sets to beat Angela Krause 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, but Gurney’s teammates met different fates in their close matches, starting with Alex Galle, who fell to Olivia Gage 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in second singles.
Moving to doubles, Lizzy Druke and Annika Bruno won the first set 6-0 over Bailey Parsons and Emily Pirro and took the second set to a tie-breaker, but, two points from victory, could not quite get there, dropping that tie-breaker 9-7 and the final set 12-9.
Lucy Langan won her early tie-breaker with Erica Byrne, and each of the next two sets proved close, too, but Byrne prevailed 6-7 (9-7), 6-4, 6-4.
Lucy and Laura Connor fell to Liz Belinski and Katelyn Ellison 6-3, 6-4, while Anna Barrett and Brittany Wright lost to Maura McNeil and Maddy Pinkney 7-5, 6-1. Summer Steinhorst and Julia Barrett had a 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Rachel Feeney and Julia Torrisi.
To start this important week of matches, the Lakers first had to battle Westhill last Monday afternoon and emerged from it with a 4-2 victory over the Warriors.
Three of those points came from a singles sweep, iced when Gurney rallied from behind to stop Katie De Veyra 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Langan had already swept past Anna Frost 6-1, 6-1, with Galle defeating Katherine Missert 6-3, 6-3.
One doubles match was called due to darkness, with Druke and Julie Silverman tied, 3-3, in the third set against the Warriors’ duo of Elizabeth Megnucci and Kaleigh Danaher.
But in the matches that were completed, Steinhorst and Barrett fought off Meaghen Burrows and Madelyn Sherlock 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Barrett and Wright could not hold on to an early lead in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Abbey Mullen and Lydia Stevenson, while the Connors, lost to another sister tandem, Cameron and Mackenzie Aiello, 6-4, 7-5.
Chittenango had its own excitement in last Tuesday’s match against Central Square, relying on a singles comeback from Shannon Koegel to make the difference as the Bears beat the Redhawks 4-3.
Koegel trailed in her second singles match against Central Square’s Erin McCarthy, but came from behind and won the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, giving Chittenango the clinching point.
Otherwise, the singles matches were split, Anna Norman beating Stephanie Kubis 6-2, 6-1. The doubles matches also were even, the Bears winning twice as Alyssa Knight and Brooke VanGorden routing Savannah Todd and Julia Georges 6-0, 6-1, while Streife and Jessie Gilbert got a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Victoria Tyrell and Maddie Haley.
