Having split its first two OHSL Liberty division matches, the Skaneateles boys tennis team looked to establish a winning mark, but it wasn’t easy.
The Lakers’ match against Westhill last Monday afternoon was a tense one, with three matches going to three sets, but Skaneateles pulled it out, beating the Warriors 3-2.
The key moment came in third singles. Austin Amory lost the first set to Sean DeKay 6-2 and was constantly on the brink of defeat, but fought it off and won the second set 7-5 and a third-set tie-breaker 7-6 to get the clinching point.
Already, Ethan Wilcox had swept past Dan Haynes 6-0, 6-0, while Zach Driscoll needed a pair of tie-breakers to get past Mike Paraszczak 7-6, 7-6.
In the other doubles matches, Kevin Goetzmann and Matt Kallas fell to Brian McMullen and Jared Ristoff 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, while Tom Bronk and Griffin Walawender could not hold an early lead in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Fletcher Chapin and Alex Skeele.
The Lakers had a bit of an easier time in Friday’s match at Chittenango, earning all of its points in straight sets as it defeated the Bears 4-1.
Amory started the singles sweep, handling Josh Carpenter 6-2, 6-2, with Goetzmann topping Kyle McGinnis by those exact same scores. Alex LaGrow beat Scott Barrett 6-0, 7-5 as, in doubles, Bronk and Kallas teamed up, losing in straight sets, but Ryan Baily and Zach Ripich won yet another 6-2, 6-2 match over Jacob Fields and Scott Palkin.
