As the regular season concluded and the Skaneateles girls tennis team basked in its OHSL Liberty division championship and perfect run through the regular season, attention now turned to defending the Section III Class C team title.
The sectional tournament got underway last Friday, with the Lakers the top seed in an 11-team bracket and holding a bye until Monday’s quarterfinal against Watertown IHC, who knocked off Bishop Grimes 3-2 in the opening round.
A win here would put Skaneateles against Manlius-Pebble Hill or Lowville in the semifinals, with the Lakers hoping to be the last team standing when the finals are scheduled to take place late this week at Utica Parkway Courts.
Before that, though, Skaneateles first had to complete its undefeated run through the league, and the key to that was last Monday’s impressive 6-1 victory over Marcellus.
Even with a 9-2 league record, the Mustangs could muster just one point out of the match, as in doubles Maura McNeil and Maddy Pinkney fell to Audrey Cerrone and Tierney Clark 6-3, 6-3.
Challenged elsewhere in doubles, the Lakers rose up to it, especially Liz Belinski and Alaina Davis, who battled through three sets and beat Megan Charles and Rebekah Mullins 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
Otherwise, it was all handled in straight sets. Katelyn Ellison began the singles sweep, toppling Haley Randall 6-0, 6-3, while Angela Krause got past Rickie Mixon 6-1, 6-4, while Olivia Gage had the most dominant effort, routing Genevieve Rao 6-0, 6-2.
Makenzi Herbst and Grace Magee continued to roll through first doubles, knocking off Grace Hunt and Mary Kate McHale 6-3, 6-2, while Makenzie Keller and Julia Torrisi worked in fourth doubles to beat Alex Burrows and Katherine White by those exact same scores.
A day later, the Lakers blanked Westhill 7-0, not dropping a set in any of the matches. Krause, beating Kalyna Parasczak 6-2, 6-3, led the singles charge as Ellison topped Katherine Missert 6-0, 6-2 and Gage turned back Katie DeVeyra 6-4, 6-1.
Moving to doubles, Keller paired with Mary McNeil, getting a 6-3, 6-4 win over Meaghen Burrows and Madelyn Sherlock. Maura McNeil stayed with Pinkney as they beat Anna Frost and Rachel Zepetello 6-0, 6-2, with Belinski and Davis topping Hannah Lesselroth and Alyssa Wall by those same scores. Herbst and Magee routed Beth Killory and Alyssa Zabel 6-0, 6-1.
Then the Lakers completed the perfect league run with a 7-0 shutout of Phoenix on Thursday, with one doubles match forfeited by the Firebirds.
Krause, maintaining the shutout, rallied from an early deficit to beat Kim Holbrook 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. Ellison routed Gianna DeRoberts 6-1, 6-0, while Gage handled Alex Wilson 6-1, 6-0. Combined, the doubles teams of Herbst-Magee, Belinski-Davis and McNeil-Pinkney lost just three game in six combined sets.
