At long last, the Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy girls tennis teams were lined up, ready to settle both bragging rights and the Section III Class A team title.
These two undefeated teams made it to Saturday’s final, where a sweep of all three singles matches made the difference for the Hornets as it handled the Brothers 5-2 for its 18th consecutive sectional championship.
From a strategic standpoint, CBA ceded some ground by having its two best singles players, Gieselle Vlassis and Grace Glowaki, go to doubles, where they would defeat F-M’s Rachel Liu and Martha Welker 7-5, 7-6.
The Hornets kept its lineup relatively intact, and pounced. Katerina Atallah put away Calista Albring 6-0, 6-1 as Anna Manta handled Aubrey Mills 6-2, 6-0 and Phoebe Wang took a 6-0, 6-3 decision over Grace Catalano.
Aside from Vlassis and Glowaki, Grace Coyne and Grace DelPino claimed a doubles point for CBA when they took out Alexis Ahn and Keara Polovick 6-0, 6-4.
A key point for the Hornets came in a three-set doubles battle where Ava Abruzzese and Samhitha Adavikolanu rallied and beat Annie Kilmartin and Maddie Tallman 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Maddy Drapeau and Cassie Wojtasziewicz handled Mary Kilmartin and Isabella Mead in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
Before this, F-M and CBA both had to survive a pair of rounds, which they did, starting in the quarterfinals where the Hornets routed Utica Proctor 7-0 and the Brothers turned back Liverpool 6-1.
Against Liverpool, CBA got singles wins from Gieselle Vlassis and Calista Albring, while in doubles the teams of Grace Coyne-Grace DelPino, Grace Catalano-Aubrey Mills, Mary Kilmartin-Isabella Mead and Annie Kilmartin-Maddie Tallman each won in two sets. Kilmartin and Tallman had to work through a close second set to finish off Erica Gibbs and Natalie Kidd 6-1, 7-5.
F-M, meanwhile, made quick work of Proctor, Atallah and Manta anta cruising to singles wins before Wang survived a first-set tie-breaker and then beat Selma Dizdarevic 7-6, 6-2.
Freda Ni and Camila Wojtasziewicz got through a tough second set and won, 6-0, 7-5, over Gu Gu and Alexandria Underwood, with the teams of Drapeau-Cassie Wojtasziewicz, Brooke Tester-Emma Zogg and Lexi Kellish-Michelle Lim each losing just one game apiece.
In the semifinals Friday, F-M took on no. 4 seed Baldwinsville and blanked them for the third time this season, the 7-0 win without a single dropped set as, in the closest of those matches, Manta beat Phoebe Wang 6-3, 6-2.
As that went on, CBA had to topple no. 2 seed West Genesee – and did so in a 5-2 decision, even though Vlassis claimed the only singles point, beating Mikayla Mannara 6-1, 6-1 as Viau lost and Albring fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 to Anastasia Mello.
However, the Brothers claimed all four doubles matches, the toughest of them where Catalano and Mills needed three sets to beat Natalie Thurston and Emma Yeager 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. Kilmartin and Tallman won, 6-2, 7-5, over Greta Hahn and Elisha Strachan.
In Class B, Jamesville-DeWitt held the no. 3 seed and started to make its championship push by hosting no. 6 seed Indian River in the quarterfinals and prevailing 4-1 over that group of Warriors.
Tara Pollock, in first singles, beat Alexis Cruz 6-4, 6-0, with Olivia DeHoog working past Kelley Daphness 6-3, 6-0 as Anna Sofia Hege took a 6-3, 6-1 defeat to IR’s Ahunna James.
Both doubles points went to the Rams, though, with Olivia Frison Deangelis and Inika Gajra topping Cassidy Deuink and Abby Smith 6-1, 7-5, while Lily Fleet and Lena Jones had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sydney O’Melia and Caitlyn Watts.
In the semifinals, J-D was up against no. 2 seed New Hartford on Friday, and only managed one point in a 6-1 defeat to the Spartans, who would end up dropping the final 7-0 to top seed Oneida.
Pollock prevented the shutout, winning first singles over Grace LaFountain 6-3, 6-1. Hege lost 6-4, 6-4 to Nicole Faroukh, with DeHoog falling to Rachel DeRocco 6-3, 6-3 as, in doubles, Frison DeAngelis and Gajra could not hold their lead in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Juliet Marhamati and Maya Padula.
