Every bit of effort was needed for the Baldwinsville girls tennis team in last Tuesday afternoon’s 4-3 victory over the Auburn Maroons.
That the Bees and Maroons were so close was not surprising. Both of them had taken defeats to Fayetteville-Manlius by that same 4-3 margin this season, denied by a single point in the quest to end the Hornets’ 300-plus match win streak.
Meeting each other, Auburn went 2-1 in singles. Amari Pollard gave the Bees its lone point, sweeping Lauryn Husby 6-2, 6-3, but Kahlei Reisinger lost to Claire Minnoe 6-3, 6-2, while Taylor Slink struggled in a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Julia Wagner.
Thus, the Bees had to go 3-1 in doubles, and it didn’t prove easy. Madeline Fiello and Katherine Schumacher swept Jessica Bolak and Anupama Irri 6-2, 6-4, but Taylor Ferrari and Natalie Kot took a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Jenna Jarman and Lindsay May.
Two other times, B’ville fell behind, but rallied. Emma Funicello and Hannah Mautz lost a first-set tie-breaker to Auburn’s tandem of Natalie Herlihy and Sarah Wansor before roaring back to win the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
A long fourth doubles match settled matters. Lauren Dusse and Maddy Quilter won the first set over Natalie Herlihy and Anna Spin 6-2, but lost a second-set tie-breaker 7-6. So it went to the wire and, by a 10-8 margin, Dusse and Quilter held on to win.
