Earlier this season, the West Genesee boys tennis team was just one set from handing Fayetteville-Manlius its first defeat in 25 years.
But when the two sides gathered again Thursday afternoon, the Wildcats did not get as close, as switches in the lineup ended up benefiting the Hornets, who prevailed this time by a 5-2 margin.
Back in that first meeting on April 23, WG employed Brent and Garrett Boleslav in singles and won all three of those matches, only to surrender the doubles points (one of them a three-set Hornets comeback) and lose a 4-3 decision.
Here, the Boleslav brothers played doubles, easily getting past Dan Miron and Thomas Wong 6-0, 6-1, while Anthony Stracqualursi, paired with Aaron Wierbinski, defeated Ravi Dhawan and Vince Grasso in straight sets 7-5, 6-1.
F-M countered with a singles sweep, leaving WG’s trio of Alex Thurston, Ian Swete and Nolan Ferris (all of them normally doubles players) with just one total game in six sets.
And in doubles, Alex Fox and Connor Smith lost, 6-2, 6-4, to Mike Mintskovsky and Brooks Nagle, with Connor McGuigan and Billy Viau battling hard, but falling to James DeSorbo and Vince Sorrentino 7-5, 6-4.
WG’s week began with a particularly impressive effort against Cicero-North Syracuse last Monday afternoon, the Wildcats having little trouble dismissing the Northstars 7-0.
Brent Boleslav and Garrett Boleslav each won by 6-0, 6-0 margins over, respectively, Jason Wisely and Brian Emigolz, while cGuigan was just as dominant, beating Rich Dennis 6-0, 6-1.
In doubles, the only major hurdle came when Wierbinski and Jimmy Harter went to a third set, but still took out Ryan Delao and Austin Fehrman 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Otherwise, the teams of Fox-Smith, Stracqualursi-Viau and Ferris-Swete won in straight sets.
A day later, the Wildcats handled Auburn in the same 7-0 manner, as only McGuigan gave up a game in singles play during a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Fran Bruno, with the Boleslav brothers winning 6-0, 6-0 over, respectively, Tom Alexander and Brett Lowe. The doubles teams of Fox-Smith, Stracqualursi-Viau and Ferris-Wierbinski all had straight-set victories.
In the final tune-up for F-M, the Wildcats beat Syracuse West 6-1, only surrendering a point in doubles, where Wierbinski and Harter, two games from victory, lost a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 decision to Husam Jameel and Cang Tul. But all the other points were earned in two sets, with John Buttner and Parker Ventura beating Amad Aberdeen and Daniel Tron 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Once the battle with F-M was done, the Wildcats still had work to do, and Liverpool provided quality opposition on Friday afternoon, and WG still handled the Warriors 6-1.
Brent and Garrett Boleslav roared past, respectively, Evan Maestri and Aaron Laviolette in 6-0, 6-0 matches, but Taylor had a three-set classic with Liverpool’s Griffin Watson, getting within two games of defeat, but still winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Fox and Smith beat Jeff Fenksen and Dan Muehlemann 7-5, 6-0, with Stracqualursi and Wierbinski handling Chris Dotto and Logan Enzerillo 6-1, 6-2.
