In order to lay claim to the Section III Class B team title, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls tennis team had to navigate through three tough matches in a 72-hour span – but only won one of them.
It all began in last Monday’s quarterfinals against no. 8 seed Christian Brothers Academy, as a third meeting with the Brothers ended just like the first two, though J-D had to work hard to gain a 4-3 decision.
The pivotal match came in third doubles, where the Rams’ pair of Kim and Mai Driesen fell behind CBA’s Anna Kambhampaty and Trisha Maini, but came back and won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for what proved to be the clinching point.
All of J-D’s other points came through straight-set decisions. In singles, Elise Catania routed Hannah Werner 6-1, 6-0, with Maggie Mannion doing the same to Hannah Kang 6-1, 6-2. CBA’s Raquel Santoro countered with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jacqueline Mott.
Aside from the Driesens’ big victory, the Rams, in a clash of singles players, also had Jungyun Kim and Maya Pollock pair up to beat Evie Lopoo and Mikayla Santulli 6-2, 7-6. The Brothers saw Alison Croucher and Sarah Roberts stop Natalie Alweis and Julia Skeval 6-3, 6-2, with Sloane Nicoletti-Watson and Karen Simone stopping Julie Harrison and Arianna Hege 6-0, 4-6, 10-5.
The Class B semifinal pitted J-D against no. 4 seed New Hartford, and it was here that the Red Rams’ title dreams faded away in a 4-2 defeat to the Spartans.
A key moment came in singles, where in three sets Pollock lost to Carisma Cherkuri 6-2, 1-6, 6-0. Otherwise, the singles matches were split, with Kim beating Roma Amernath 6-0, 6-2, but Catania taking a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to Sarah Corasanti.
J-D now needed three out of four points in doubles, but only got one, from Harrison and Hege, who beat Rachel Duchnycz and Arianna Wiater 6-3, 6-4. Mannion and Mott lost to Katie Farkouh and Morgan Joyce 6-4, 6-0, while in another three-set battle Alweis and Skeval fell to Rachel Madden and Emily Steates 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
Manlius-Pebble Hill, the no. 4 seed in Class C, had a bye right into the quarterfinals, where it faced down – and beat – no. 5 seed Watertown IHC by a 4-1 margin.
The Trojans won both of the doubles matches. Sophie Novak and Anna Szombathy shook off a bad second set and beat the Cavaliers’ duo of Michele Snow and Jody White 6-2, 0-6, 6-0, while Caroline Blanck and Julia Mettler-Grove took out Delaney Gonas and Maggie Gonas 6-0, 6-1.
Up in singles play, IHC’s Elena Altieri beat Olivia Sheppard 6-4, 7-6, but MPH countered by having Elizabeth Clarkson, in first singles, defeat Emma Renzi 6-2, 6-4 as Grace Del Pino earned a 6-0, 6-3 sweep over Jasmeet Aujila.
Just as with J-D, though, MPH’s dream of a sectional team title ended in Wednesday’s semifinals at Austin Park, where undefeated top seed Skaneateles defeated the Trojans 5-2.
During singles play, Sheppard was impressive, beating Olivia Gage 6-1, 6-3, but Clarkson fell to Katelyn Ellison 6-3, 6-1 and, in the best match of the semifinal, Del Pino got within two games of a come-from-behind victory, but fell to Louisa Morrow 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
In first doubles, Novak and Szombathy again endured a bad set, but again won in three, rallying past Makenzi Herbst and Grace Magee 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.
But Walsh and Weiss fell to Erica Byrne and Julia Torrisi 7-6, 6-2, with Blanck and Mettler-Grove overwhelmed in a 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Liz Belinski and Angela Krause. Spencer Alexander and Ada Buniak lost to Maura McNeil and Maddy Pinkney 6-3, 6-1.
Lacking all of this drama, Fayetteville-Manlius, again the top seed in Class A, blanked Oswego 7-0 to set up next Tuesday’s final against no. 2 seed Baldwinsville, who beat Auburn 5-2 in the other semifinal.
Only one of the seven matches went to three sets, as in first doubles the Hornets’ duo of Madison Jordan and Shirley Zhang had to work a bit longer to beat the Buccaneers’ tandem of Meredith Chesare and Kelly Skinner 6-0, 6-7, 6-4.
Otherwise, every match was over in two sets. The Hornets had a singles sweep as Maggie Bonomo handled Carrie Kelly 6-0, 6-2, while Kristina Liu routed Brynn Adner 6-1, 6-0 and Olivia Wojnovich defeated Brenna Sherman 6-1, 6-3.
Leading F-M’s doubles charge, Katerina Atallah and Shannon Fullam worked past Rana Al-Salameh and Krysta Broeker 6-3, 6-3. Marissa Broddus and Catarina Westergaard picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lauren Boshart and Hannah Broadwell, with Mary Trop and Abbey Welker handling Lexi Hanna and Jana Markonstedt 6-1, 6-0.
This would be the third match between F-M and B’ville this season, the first two of them, on Aug. 28 and Sept. 15, ending in 4-3 Hornets victories.
