Thirteen opponents tried this fall to upend the Skaneateles girls tennis team, and none of them could pull it off.
As a result, the Lakers are Section III Class C champions once again, completing its perfect 2013 run with an impressive 5-0 shutout over Sauquoit Valley in Friday’s sectional tournament finals at Utica Parkway Courts.
Skaneateles, the top seed, never dropped a single match in the sectional tournament, blanking no. 9 seed Watertown IHC 5-0 in the quarterfinals and no. 5 seed Manlius-Pebble Hill 5-0 in the semifinals during its first two rounds of competition.
Now, though, the Lakers had to leave Austin Park and head to Utica. Waiting was Sauquoit, the no. 2 seed who had turned back Little Falls and Clinton in a pair of 4-1 matches to get this far. Thanks to Skaneateles, though, the Indians would go no further.
All of the singles matches followed a similar pattern. Katelyn Ellison, Angela Krause and Olivia Gage would surrender games, but not lose control of their matches.
Ellison had the quickest match in first singles, beating Ella Brutsky 6-1, 6-3. Krause rolled through second singles with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Dana Bever, while Gage completed the singles sweep by working past Tanya Brutsky 6-4, 6-2.
Those points alone would have meant a sectional title, but Skaneateles also had a pair of strong doubles sides that were even more impressive than the singles trio.
In fact, Makenzi Herbst and Grace Magee did not drop a game in their first doubles match, roaring past Sauquoit’s duo of Maiah DeGeronimo 6-0, 6-0. To top it off, Elizabeth Belinski and Alaina Davis gave the Lakers a 6-0, 6-3 sweep over Isabella Arrigo and Kira Biran.
This all started with last Tuesday’s quarterfinal against no. 9 seed Watertown IHC. Even a 24-hour rain delay could not deter the Lakers as it blanked the Cavaliers.
Krause worked a bit longer in singles, but still beat Megan Goss 6-1, 7-6. Ellison handled Emma Renzi 6-0, 6-3, while Gage won again, topping Elena Alteri 6-3, 6-4. Belinski and Davis didn’t drop a game in doubles, blanking Delaney Gonas and Michelle Snow 6-0, 6-0, while Herbst and Magee put together a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Jasmeet Aujla and Jody White.
With no time to rest, the Lakers went right into Wednesday’s semifinal against no. 5 seed Manlius-Pebble Hill, and met with the same satisfactory result, this time playing seven matches as it took out the Trojans 7-0.
Gage had a bit more work in singles, but still beat Caroline Blanck 6-4, 6-3. Ellison also played Blanck and won 6-2, 6-1, with Krause moving past Olivia Shepard 6-3, 6-1.
Herbst and Magee, leading the doubles sweep, got a 6-2, 6-2 win over Julia Mettler-Grove and Sophie Novak. Belinski and Davis beat Spencer Alexander and Ada Buniak 6-2, 6-1, with Maura McNeil and Maddy Pinkney handling Annie Weiss and Lucy Zwigard 6-0, 6-1. Makenzi Keller and Julia Torrisi topped Amina Kilpatrick and Kaylee Steiner 6-1, 6-0.
One more match followed against Sauquoit – and that proved successful, too, leaving Skaneateles to go after individual singles and doubles titles next week in the sectional Division III tournament, also in Utica.
