Greeted by the best weather of the entire spring, the Skaneateles boys tennis team, returning from a 12-day respite mostly caused by rain and other weather-related postponement, wanted its results to match those fine conditions – but that didn’t always happen.
For example, in last Tuesday’s match against Christian Brothers Academy at Austin Park, the Lakers earned a point in doubles, but nothing else in a 4-1 defeat to the Brothers.
During second doubles, Ryan Baily and Malcolm Lombardi went to a third set against CBA’s tandem of Geoff Parkes and Josh Popp, but were able to produce a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 victory.
However, Zach Driscoll and Anthony Panasci lost, 6-3, 6-1, to Tommy Daviau and Steve Castellini, And in singles, the Lakers struggled, seeing Connor Jones fall to Dean Vlassis 6-0, 6-2, Ethan Weldon lose to Greg Maziuk 6-0, 6-1 and Connor Driscoll fall to Jameson Keppeler 6-2, 6-0.
This dropped the Lakers to 1-3, and it hoped to improve on that number Wednesday, against visiting Homer, and did so in a big way, defeating the Trojans 5-2.
A doubles sweep included Pansaci and Luca Kunz beating Brett Barden and Dylan Gifilian 6-2, 6-2, with Baily and Lombardi handling Nate Potter and Jas Singh 6-1, 6-1 and Matt Benson and Griffin Oland stopping Collin Baker and Bayle Goddard 6-3, 6-4.
Of the four singles matches, Homer won two of them, Jones falling to Drew Potter 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 and Weldon taking a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Collin Lake. But the Lakers saw Connor Driscoll work past Ben Herman 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) for a clinching point. Zach Driscoll rallied past Alex Cottrell 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 6-4.
Skaneateles did not drop any points on Thursday in a 5-0 shutout over Phoenix, but nearly did so in first singles, Weldon having to go three sets to beat Ned Greenough 6-0, 1-6, 6-2.
It was easier for Zach Driscoll to beat Lorenzo Camponino 6-1, 6-0 and Connor Driscoll to zip past Scott Williams-Clark 6-1, 6-1. Kunz and Panasci paired up to beat Ben Bulgrien and Zach VanGorder 7-5, 6-1, with Baily and Matt Benson stopping Kadin May and Brandon Mironti 6-2, 6-1.
This busy week concluded with Skaneateles falling 4-1 to its Laker rivals from Cazenovia, the only points coming when Jones and Panasci, paired up in doubles, won a pair of tie-breakers to turn back Ben Kmetz and Harry McDonough 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3).
Bayly and Lombardi led early in their doubles match, but could not hold on to it in a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat to David Marshall and Andrew Terry. In singles, the trio of Weldon, Max Hall and Zach Driscoll managed just seven total games in six sets, falling to, respectively, Nate Romig, Wyatt Lansing and Mason Stehle.
