Even though the Christian Brothers Academy girls tennis team took a 4-3 defeat to eventual champion Cazenovia in the Oct. 5 Section III Class B semifinal, the Brothers would get back on top in a satisfying manner.
Between singles player Grace DelPino and the doubles team of Alison Croucher and Rena Steele, the Brothers swept both titles in last week’s sectional Division III tournaments that helped determine berths in the state qualifying tournament this week at Drumlins.
DelPino, the no. 2 seed, made it to the finals last Friday at Liverpool, where she upended the no. 4 seed, Phoenix’s Gianna DeRoberts, in a 6-0, 6-0 shutout.
It was even better in doubles, where two CBA sides made it to the finals thanks to a great run from a no. 6 seed by Grace Coyne and Aubrey Mills. Only in the finals, and against their teammates, did Coyne and Mills fall short as Croucher and Steele, the top seeds, prevailed 6-3, 6-2.
Fayetteville-Manlius nearly swept through the Division I bracket. As the top seed in doubles, Maggie Bonomo and Katerina Attalah roared to the finals and then topped West Genesee’s Mikayla Mannara and Katie Viau 6-3, 6-0, while in singles Kristina Liu got to the finals, only to fall to top-seeded Auburn star Katie Wagner 6-1, 6-0.
In Division IV, Manlius-Pebble Hill won the doubles side thanks to Sophie Novak and Anna Szombathy. The Trojans’ pair swept Marissa Dermady and Anna Murrock (Watertown IHC) 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and then won a 6-2, 6-0 semifinal over their MPH teammate, Lily Grenis and Louisa Morrow, before routing Westmoreland’s Kia Barber and Olivia Merrell 6-1, 6-0 in the finals.
Morrow also played in Division IV singles, as did Grace Walsh, but they both lost in the quarterfinals, Walsh to Utica-Notre Dame’s Ellen Lyga and Morrow to Bishop Grimes’ Liz Wolaver. In the semifinals, Wolaver lost, 6-3, 6-1, to Ellen Lyga, who beat her own sister, Emily Lyga, 6-3, 7-5 in the finals.
In alumni news, former F-M star Sienna Susko helped Geneseo State win the SUNYAC championship last weekend at Binghamton, its eighth title in 10 years. The Knights beat New Paltz 5-1 in the finals as Susko, a junior, paired with Vanessa Lam-Tram to go 3-0 during the tournament.
