On a frantic Friday, four local girls tennis teams aimed to reach Tuesday’s Section III championship matches at Utica Parkway Courts – and three of them would succeed in various semifinal battles.
Fayetteville-Manlius blanked Whitesboro, 7-0, and will clash with Baldwinsville for the Class A title just eight days after the Hornets battled past the Bees 5-2 in regular-season play.
In Class B, Christian Brothers Academy knocked off unbeaten, top-seeded New Hartford 5-2. Jamesville-DeWitt wanted to join them, but lost 6-1 to Skaneateles, setting up a final between the Brothers and Lakers.
And in Class C, Manlius-Pebble Hill’s 5-2 conquest of Utica-Notre Dame places the Trojans in the finals against Beaver River.
F-M got moving against Whitesboro with a singles sweep where Sienna Susko and Allison Vizgaitis both won in straight sets. Carly Romano worked a bit longer, but still beat Arielle Armstrong 6-3, 6-4.
In doubles, Olivia Calancie and Lauren Schaefer put together a 6-4, 6-2 win over Viktoriya Montik and Nicole Salerno. The Hornets’ teams of Maria Mintskovsky-Katie Muller, Rhiannon Iorio-Shelby Smith and Olivia Calancie-Meghan Muraco lost just four combined games in six sets of work.
CBA based its win over New Hartford on dominant singles efforts by Olivia Messineo (6-0, 6-1 over Sani Zaki) and Shilpa Kamani (6-3, 6-1 over Farial Asmat), though Colleen Cavanaugh lost to Claire Hotvedt 7-5, 7-5.
Rebecca Scullin and Shannon Fitch teamed in doubles to beat Alex Romano and Katie Steats 6-4, 6-4. Taylor Procopio and Sarah Kitts conquered Madeline Locke and Hotvedt 6-3, 6-4, while Chrissy Thomson-Basha and Emily Norkett earned a 6-0, 6-2 sweep of Suveera Dang and Maanasa Sarabu.
J-D had less success against Skaneateles, only landing a point when, in second singles, Priya Gupta beat Elizabeth Lane 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. The Lakers won every other match in straight sets, the closest one coming when Stella Min and Katie Cieplicki fell to Ryan Merle and Sidney Lawson 6-3, 7-6.
It helped MPH that Utica-Notre Dame had to forfeit a match in singles, part of a 3-0 mark for the Trojans. Anke Von Hanstein routed Jessica Buckley 6-0, 6-1, with Anna Purcell handling Allison Jones 6-1, 6-4.
Meanwhile, in doubles, Maya Stevens-Uninsky and Elena Mishko beat Brittany Gregory and Monica Samvaig 6-0, 6-2, with Orla Andrews and Rebecca Schu claiming a 6-1, 6-1 sweep of Arianna Wiater and Katie Wiater.