Things did not start well for the Cazenovia girls tennis team, but it atoned with a pair of victories to find a solid footing in the OHSL Liberty division.
Cazenovia ran right into visiting Skaneateles in the Aug. 28 season opener and took a 7-0 defeat to those other Lakers.
Only one of the seven matches went to three sets. Ava Gurney won a first-set tie-breaker over Olivia Gage, but could not hold on to that lead and lost, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-1, to Gage.
Elsewhere in singles, Lucy Connor fell to Katelyn Ellison 6-1, 6-3, with Vivian Wilt playing a strong opening set in a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Louisa Morrow.
Of the four doubles matches, Anna Barrett and Allison Cooney had the closest call, taking a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Grace Magee and Makenzi Herbst. The teams of Brittany Wright-Lucy Langan, Summer Steinhorst-Kelly Cowan and Julia Barrett-Alicia Clarke also had straight-set defeats.
Needing to quickly turn things around, the Lakers did so in last Wednesday’s closely-fought match against Westhill, edging past the Warriors 4-3.
Making strong statements in singles, Connor beat Katherine Missert 6-2, 6-3, while Gurney handled Katie DeVerya 6-2, 7-5. Wilt nearly managed to finish off the singles sweep, but had a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 defeat to Alyssa Wall.
On the doubles side, Wright and Anna Barrett fell to Cameron Aiello and Mackenzie Aiello 6-2, 6-2, but Langan and Steinhorst answered by beating Anna Frost and Rachel Zeppetello 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
The other doubles matches went to three sets. Clarke, paired again with Julia Barrett, lost a 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3 decision to Lydia Stevenson and Abbey Mullen, but when it was needed, Cowan and Suzu Davis rallied in the third set to beat Hannah Lesselroth and Meaghen Burrows 6-4, 0-6, 10-7.
Cazenovia made it back-to-back wins on Friday, blanking Phoenix 7-0. Connor shut out Gianna DeRoberts 6-0, 6-0, with Gurney stopping Alexandra Galle 6-2, 6-0 and Wilt handling Lauren Schmidt 6-1, 6-1.
In the closest of the four doubles matches, Wright and Langan stopped Elissa Fordyce and Catherine Musumeci 6-2 ,6-3. Elsewhere, Barrett and Cooney beat Bryn Demong and Molly Thorn 6-0, 6-3 and Kortney Burdin and Sam Quarantillo topped Lucca Dahlin and Veronica Griffin 6-1, 6-2, with Barrett and Clarke taking a forfeit.
While Cazenovia was dueling with Westhill, Chittenango, who had beaten Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 7-0 in its Aug. 28 opener, engaged in its own close match against Cortland and, like Cazenovia, won by a 4-3 margin.
Shannon Koegel and Rebecca Hansen claimed singles points for the Bears, Hansen defeating Katherine Musci 6-4, 6-3, so that meant Chittenango had to split the remaining doubles matches against the Purple Tigers.
Mackenzie Millick and Noelle Milnamow lost, 7-5, 7-5, to Jennifer Wang and Jackie Phillips, while Jordan Kelly and Callie Lalor fell to Delaney Marshall and Jessica Stramba 6-3, 7-5. But Lauren Choi and Allee Santorelli rolled past Allison Holl and Chelsea Breed 6-2, 6-1, with Bryce VanGorden and Taylor Scalzo getting the fourth point, also in straight sets.
It proved far tougher on Friday, Chittenango falling to Jamesville-DeWitt 7-0. Koegel did take Maggie Mannion to a third set in a 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 10-8 decision, but Hansen and Kelly Gloo lost their singles matches in straight sets. In doubles, Choi and Santorelli saw an early lead get away in a 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 defeat to Mai Driesen and Brooke LaFlair. All of the other matches were lost in straight sets.
