Though it had to wait a bit longer for sunshine and warmer temperatures, the Skaneateles boys tennis team did not have to wait for important early-season tests.
And the Lakers passed a big one last Thursday afternoon, going to West Genesee and displaying plenty of impressive depth while defeating the Wildcats 5-2.
Getting a big point in singles, Connor Driscoll survived a first-set tie-breaker and went on to beat Nick Bentley 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Daniel Judge followed it up with a 6-3, 6-1 romp over John Northrup, while Ethan Weldon lost to Connor McGuigan 6-0, 6-0.
In the only doubles match that went to three sets, Connor Jones and Anthony Panasci rallied to get past Alex Argiro and Jimmy Harter 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2. Malcolm Lombardi and Jack Lawson beat Stefan Atansov and Chris Upwood 6-2, 6-4, with Nick Glaza and Mike Goetzmann getting a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ryan Joyce and Drew Francisco. Matt Benson and Ryan Bailey lost, 6-4, 6-1, to Pat Copeland and James Plunkett.
All of this followed a 3-2 victory over Cazenovia the day before. Judge, in third singles, won a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Brady Flannery, while in doubles Jones and Panasci had a similar match against Nick Barna and Orson Sproule, winning in a pair of 6-3 sets.
Driscoll lost, 6-0, 6-3, to Fabian Grimm, while Luca Kunz ran into Nate Romig and took a 6-0, 6-0 defeat. In the decisive match, Bailey and Benson won the first set 6-3 over Tim Kempton and Liam Flannery, but then lost the second set by that same 6-3 margin before sweeping the third set 6-0 to clinch it,
The win streak got halted Friday by Christian Brothers Academy, who topped Skaneateles 4-1, only surrendering a point in doubles, where Bailey and Benson starred again, stopping Justin Strott and Zach Gruhin 6-4, 6-2.
Jones and Panasci led early against Tommy Daviau and Zach Popp, but lost, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. At least that match got to three sets as, in singles, Weldon fell to Dean Vlassis 6-0, 6-1, with Driscoll falling to Jameson Keppeler 6-1, 6-1 and Judge running into Ben Vlassis and taking a 6-1, 6-3 defeat.
