Once the wild weather got out of town for the weekend, it was time for the Baldwinsville girls tennis team to shine above all others.
The Bees did so while claiming the CNY Counties League National division tournament last Saturday afternoon, earning 48 points to finish well clear of Cicero-North Syracuse (35 points) and Liverpool (29 points) for the title.
Two of the three singles divisions went in B’ville’s favor. Bri Pollard, in second singles, beat CNS’s Meghan Storie 6-1, 6-1, while Cali Nizamis earned the crown in third singles by pulling off 6-0, 6-2 win over Storie’s CNS teammate, Rachel Cary. Becky Guzzo reached the first singles final, only to fall to Liverpool’s Kayla DiPaulo 6-1, 6-2.
Over in doubles, B’ville got to every final and prevailed in third doubles, where Amari Pollard and Nicole Leader beat Emily Zalewski and Sarah O’Hara (Liverpool) 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 to finish on top.
In a great three-set battle, Addie Schmidt and Gen Schmidt came within two games of victory, only to fall to Ashleigh Caruso and Liz Kline 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. The teams of Lauren Schaefer-Rachel Taylor and Rachel Green-Catherine Corsito both fell in two sets in their respective divisions.
Gaining an upper hand in the CNYCL National division’s regular-season race, the Bees took out Liverpool last Wednesday in a weather-shortened 4-1 decision.
Both of the completed singles matches went to the Bees. In straight sets, Bri Pollard took out Kaitlyn McJilton 6-3, 6-0, while Nizamis tore up Sarah Dorosz in a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
Over in doubles play, Amari Pollard and Leader earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Zalewski and O’Hara, while Schaefer and Taylor took out Amanda Vogue and Amy Warner 6-4, 6-0. Jen Schmidt and Catherine Corsito lost in two sets.
As the last week of the regular season got underway on Monday, the Bees kept up the heat, shutting out Rome Free Academy 7-0 to improve its record to 9-1.
Nizamis blanked Erin Hall 6-0, 6-0, as Guzzo and Bri Pollard also won their singles matches in two sets. The doubles teams of Taylor-Schaefer, Leader-Amari Pollard and Danielle Darling-Leah Effock did not lose a single game in any of their matches, either.
