In order to claim the Onondaga High School League Liberty National division regular-season title, the Skaneateles girls tennis team had to turn back its namesakes from Cazenovia.
They clashed on Friday at Austin Park, fighting both each other and heavy winds, but when all was done it was Skaneateles that proved the superior Laker side, prevailing 5-2.
This was, as much as any match this season, a tribute to the strength of Skaneateles doubles, which started to show itself when Sophia Soderberg and Olvia Walker routed Julia Knutsen and Emma Thornton 6-0, 6-1.
Ella Danforth and Emma Miller starred again in a 6-1, 6-3 win over Charley Harris and Kaitlyn Puffer, while Marin Doyle and Gracie Lee only needed two sets to turn back Nova Berger and Clare Douglas 6-4, 6-3.
Only in second doubles was there any stress, but Riley Fouts and Bridget Neumann gave Skaneateles yet another point when they came from behind to beat Abby Burrell and Nina Royer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Moving to singles, Cazenovia had Laura Connor beat Hope Allyn 6-2, 6-3 and Alex Galle top Rachael Feeney 6-2, 6-0. But Isabella Kroon played a superb match and won 6-1, 6-3 over Emmie Dolbear.
Before this, the Lakers, making up its rained-out Sept. 10 match with Bishop Grimes last Tuesday afternoon, did not surrender a set in a 7-0 romp over the Cobras.
Feeney’s 6-1, 6-1 win over Kate Mathewson set the tone, Kroon following up by beating Sarah Falgiatano 6-0, 6-3 as Allyn took a bit longer, but beat Abby Wilkinson 6-4, 6-0.
The closest of the four doubles matches had Fouts and Neumann handling Lenora Cedrone and Abby Fletcher 6-3, 7-5, but the rest were far more lopsided.
Danforth and Miller got past Katie Knittel and Michaela Marturano 6-1, 6-1, with Soderberg and Walker topping Samantha Burton and Hannah Maroney 6-2, 6-1. Doyle and Lee had a 6-1, 6-0 win over Maggie Eallonardo and Jenny Morabito.
Then Skaneateles took on its neighbors from Marcellus 24 hours later and swept them, too, dropping just one set in the course of stomping the Mustangs 7-0.
It was Fouts and Neumann, in doubles, needing to rally to beat Kaitlyn Kemp and Morgan Walsh 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Danforth and Miller handled Kathleen DeMarie and Elaina Mahoney 6-3, 6-1.
Helped by a second-set tie-breaker, Soderberg and Walker won, 6-3, 7-6, over Bella Clarke and Casey Conklin, while Doyle and Lee got past Sophia Shaw and Maddie Vetsch 6-4, 6-0.
There was little stress in any of the singles matches. Feeney and Allyn each won by 6-0, 6-1 margins over, respectively, Megan Mitchell and Colleen Marsh, with Kroon getting a 6-1, 6-0 win over Danielle Copp.
After the win over Cazenovia, Skaneateles only had to get through back-to-back matches this week at Chittenango and Jordan-Elbridge to secure the league title.
