For an entire decade, the Baldwinsville girls tennis team had chased Fayetteville-Manlius, and are convinced that, in 2014, it will finally catch them.
And though it didn’t happen in a pair of regular-season encounters, the only choice for the Bees is to try and get the Hornets when the stakes were highest – during next Tuesday’s Section III Class A team tournament final at Mott Courts in Utica.
Just to get there, B’ville had to navigate through Wednesday’s sectional semifinal against no. 3 seed Auburn, and just like the regular season, the Bees got the best of the Maroons in a 5-2 decision.
They had met twice the month before, on Sept. 3 and 25, with the Bees claiming both matches by comfortable 5-2 and 6-1 margins. As the winds kicked up for the sectional semifinal, B’ville again would assert itself in both singles and doubles play.
Each side comfortably got a singles point, B’ville from Kahlei Reisinger in a 6-0, 6-0 romp over Julia Wagner, Auburn from Katherine Brundage in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Maddie Quilter.
So that made second singles important. The Bees’ Jennifer Stone won the first set from the Maroons’ Celia Mattie, 6-1, only to surrender the second set 7-5 before rallying in the third set and defeating Mattie by a 6-3 margin.
Just as pivotal was the third doubles match. Having lost the first set to Auburn’s duo of Emma Solomon and Anna Streeter, the Bees’ tandem of Gabby Fiello and Emma Funicello rose up and rallied, beating Solomon and Streeter 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Auburn saw Lauryn Husby and Jenna Jarman stop Bridgett Brown and Natalie Kot 6-3, 6-0, but B’ville countered with Lauren Dusse and Taylor Slink shutting out Grace Bachman and Jamie Whitford 6-0, 6-0, while Katie Cassidy and Amanda Coogan conquered Amanda Dixon and Lindsay Jarman in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
As this went on, F-M shut out Oswego, 7-0, to set up the title match. It’s B’ville’s ninth final in 10 years, and every time before the Hornets stopped them, adding a pair of 4-3 decisions in the regular season on Aug. 28 and Sept. 15, which serve as preludes to the bigger battle ahead.
