So many times, the Baldwinsville girls tennis team threatened to upend Fayetteville-Manlius during its 329-match, 21-year win streak, but could not quite pull it off.
Though the Hornets’ win streak is over (West Genesee ended it 12 months ago), the Bees’ frustrations at F-M’s expense are still quite active, as displayed again last Thursday when B’ville took a 4-3 defeat to the Hornets.
They had met Sept. 3, and the Bees lost 5-2, but in the rematch it inched closer and almost earned that clinching fourth point in fourth doubles.
It stared, as usual, with Kahlei Reisinger, who routed Madison Jordan 6-0, 6-0 in singles, while Bridgett Brown also won in straight sets, topping Olivia Wojnovich 6-3, 6-1 as F-M’s Catarina Westergaard defeated Amanda Coogan 6-3, 6-2.
Needing two points in doubles, B’ville earned one when Lauren Dusse and Jennifer Stone rolled past Kristina Liu and Shirley Zhang 6-2, 6-1. But Natalie Kot and Taylor Slink lost, 7-5, 6-1, to Maggie Bonomo and Katerina Atallah, while Gabby Fiello and Marissa Tommarello couldn’t get going against Abby Welker and Mary Trop in a 6-2, 6-1 defeat.
So it all hinged on Alina Minkhova and Katherine Cassidy, who lost the first set to Patrice Calanice and Diana Polovick 6-3 and then won the second set 6-2, only to run out of steam in the final set as Calancie and Polovick prevailed by a 6-1 margin for F-M’s fourth point.
Before all this, The Bees proved quite impressive in last Monday’s match against visiting Cicero-North Syracuse, not surrendering a set in a 7-0 victory over the Northstars.
Reisinger recorded a 6-0, 6-0 win, this one over Brooke Murphy, while Brown moved to singles and defeated Nicole Perrigo 6-0, 6-4, and Coogan produced a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Maria Scorzelli.
In the closest of the four doubles matches, Fiello and Stone turned back Madison Murphy and Brenna Duffy 6-1, 6-4. Kot and Dusse routed Abbey Ellis and Megan Tryniski 6-1, 6-0. Tommarello and Minkova beat Sydney Franco and Sarah Wicks by those same scores as Cassidy and Riley Warren hut out Molly Dober and Nicole Cullen 6-0, 6-0.
Right after the F-M battle, B’ville would get another challenge in Friday’s match against Auburn, but it would pass the test and get a 5-2 victory over the Maroons on Senior Day.
In order to sweep the singles, Reisinger had to turn back Celia Mattie 6-1, 6-1, while Slink had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Lindsay Jarman and Coogan coolly handled Maggie Lesch 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles proved tougher, as Fiello and Tommarello lost, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, to Emma Solomon and Katherine Brundage, while Dusse and Stone, going to a third-set tie-breaker, could not quite prevail in a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2)defeat to Lauryn Husby and Anna Streeter.
But Brown and Kot handled Julia Wagner and Jaime Whitford 6-2, 6-2, while in fourth doubles Minkhova and Cassidy also won in two sets, stopping Kylie Blanchard and Emily Stearns 6-1, 6-2.
B’ville’s last two regular-season matches are on the road, and the Bees will be favored at Liverpool on Tuesday and Syracuse East on Thursday afternoon.
