When play began in the Section III Class B girls tennis tournament, Cazenovia made it through the first two rounds and reached the semifinals.
On a warm Monday afternoon, the no. 5 seed Lakers took on no. 12 seed Manlius-Pebble Hill and fought past the Trojans 4-3, while the Bears played a smaller match and eliminated Clinton 3-2.
Cazenovia had to rely on both singles and doubles teams against MPH. Elizabeth Palmer won in singles, getting a 6-1, 6-1 sweep of Alex Verbeck, while Kelly Furlong beat Hannae Lee 6-1, 6-3. Laura Gregg had a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 defeat to Emily Barclay.
So the Lakers required a doubles split – and got it. Olivia Bowser and Edie Connor beat Grace Allyn and Alaina McGinley 6-3, 6-2. Sally Langan and Sienna Lints had a 6-1, 6-4 win over Caroline Blanck and Carlee Coutu.
Meanwhile, Grace Gara and Taylor Mimms went to three sets before falling to Sarah Malavenda and Elizabeth Clarkson 7-6, 4-6, 6-0, with Claire Chanatry and Rebecca Marsch taking a 6-0, 6-4 defeat to Christina Cerio and Scarlett Jaworski.
On Wednesday, the Lakers traveled north and face no. 4 seed Carthage in the Class B quarterfinals. The rain held off long enough for Cazenovia to put together a 5-0 sweep of the Comets.
In single-set matches to 10 games, Palmer topped Hannah Millich 10-5, with Gregg holding off Maggie King 10-7 and Furlong crushing Jami Ellis 10-2. Bowser and Connor had their own 10-2 win over Ally Farley and Chelsea Major, while Langan and Lints handled Amanda Dawley and Guiliana LoConte in yet another 10-2 match.
Also in Class B, Chittenango made it past Clinton 3-2 in last Monday’s opening round, in a match where it claimed both points in doubles. Camen Hunn and Alyssa Mroczek got past Mckenzie Taylor and Leah Tonetti 6-4, 6-3, while Katie Brant and Shelby Hogan rolled past Corrine Banning and Shannon Cherpak 6-1, 6-0.
Ami Petosa, in singles, lost to Samantha Malak 7-5, 6-1, while Marie Perriello fell to Kate Richerson 6-0, 6-2. So Kourtney Wilson had to win over Clinton’s Olivia Kodsy in singles to help the Bears advance – and she did, dropping the first set to Kodsy before taking over late in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 decision.
Put up against top seed CBA in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, the Bears almost pulled off the upset, only to fall to the Brothers 4-3. Pestota, Perriello and Wilson lost their singles matches in straight sets, meaning Chittenango had to win every point in doubles.
Hunn and Mroczek defeated Jenna Bartolotti and Shannon Fitch 6-3, 7-5, while Brant and Hogan had a 6-3, 6-3 sweep of Evie Lopoo and Olivia Rotondo. In two tough sets, Danielle Hurley and Jennifer Sternberg worked past Sarah Roberts and Elizabeth Sassler 7-5, 7-6.
In first doubles, McKenzie Doig and Kaleigh Koegel dominated the first set against Shilpa Kamani and Becky Scullin and pushed the second set to a tie-breaker. One game from victory, Doig and Koegel could not finish it off, watching Kamani and Scullin prevail 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.
