West Genesee is sending the doubles team of Samantha Heyn and Marisa Joyce to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship tournament.
Heyn and Joyce earned their spots in the second portion of the Section III state qualifier, held Wednesday at Drumlins Country Club when wet weather forced the proceedings indoors.
Having won two matches in the state qualifier Oct. 20 at Syracuse University, Heyn and Joyce were paired up in the semifinals against Beaver River’s tandem of Abigail Cornell and Amanda Peters.
Though they won the first set 6-4, Heyn and Joyce could not put it away as Cornell and Peters claimed the second set 6-3. A tense third set followed, but Heyn and Joyce pulled it out, 6-4, and automatically clinched a state berth.
There was still a final remaining against Baldwinsville’s Natalie Kot and Amari Pollard, where Heyn and Joyce won the first set 6-3, only to see Kot and Pollard rally to take the next two sets by scores of 6-0 and 6-3.
Even with that defeat, Heyn and Joyce are on their way to the Tri-City Tennis Center in Latham, near Albany, for the state tournament that starts on Saturday morning.
Kot and Pollard join them, as do the third-place finishers from Fayetteville-Manlius, Laurin Goldberg and Jessica Guarino. Auburn’s Claire Minnoe, who again won the singles title, is joined by B’ville’s Kahlei Reisinger and F-M’s Sienna Susko.
