When two powerhouse girls tennis programs squared off in last Thursday’s Section III Class A team tournament semifinal, it was bound to be memorable.
And for Christian Brothers Academy, it proved to be a landmark as, with strong singles play and a clutch victory in doubles, the no. 5 seed Brothers knocked off top seed and defending champion Fayetteville-Manlius 4-3 and, by doing so, interrupting the Hornets’ long reign atop the sectional ranks.
It was a rematch of the 2018 sectional final that F-M won 5-2, only here the Brothers had the clear advantage in singles and the Hornets would have to counter it with its fine doubles teams.
None of the singles matches lasted long as CBA’s Gieselle Vlassis handled Samhitha Adivikolanu 6-0, 6-1, with Grace DelPino and Julia DelPino each earning 6-0, 6-0 wins over, respectively, Emma Zogg and Alexis Ahn.
F-M got on the board in doubles when Anna Manta and Phoebe Wang beat Aubrey Mills and Maddie Tallman 6-2, 6-4, while Natalie Hugo and Brooke Tester took out Hanna Kang and Annie Kilmartin 6-4, 6-2. Rallying from behind, Maya McKenzie and CamillaWojtasiewicz topped Sophie Schultz and Schutie Zirath 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
So it rode on the doubles match between CBA’s Grace Catalano and Lily Genecco and F-M’s Angela Iskander and Lexi Kellish. They split the first two sets, 6-3 for the Brothers and 6-1 for the Hornets, and the final set went to a tiebreaker at 6-6, but it was Catalano and Genecco pulling it out by an 8-6 margin to help CBA claim the team victory.
And it put the Brothers in the sectional final Friday at Utica’s Mott Courts against no. 3 seed Baldwinsville, where again it dominated singles and got the one doubles point it needed to defeat the Bees 4-3 and claim the championship.
Neither Vlassis nor Grace DelPino dropped games in their singles wins over Eva Smith and Audrey Benton as Julia DelPino topped Ella Tromblee 6-2, 6-4, but B’ville earned three doubles points in response, not dropping a set in any of them.
Ultimately, it was Kang and Kilmartin that delivered the decisive doubles point, only needing two sets to put away the Bees’ duo of Lauren Devine and Sarah Cavino 6-3, 6-1.
CBA had started out the sectional tournament knocking out no. 4 seed Liverpool 5-2, with Vlassis, Grace DelPino and Julia DelPino dropping just five games in six combined sets.
Schultz and Zirath won a 6-2, 6-7, 10-5 battle over Sheridan Bryerton and Kaia Wallingford, with Kang and Kilmartin handling Megan Polhamus and Sarah Watkins 6-1, 7-5.
Moving to the Class B sectional tournament, Jamesville-DeWitt, as the no. 2 seed, met no. 7 seed Cortland in last Tuesday’s quarterfinals and eliminated the Purple Tigers in another 5-2 decision.
Celia Reid’s 6-4, 6-4 singles win over Lindsey Bush initiated a singles run where Inika Gajra beat Lexi Zacek 6-0, 6-2 and Riya Sharma won over Emma Hutchings 6-0, 6-1.
Mona Farah and Tara Pollock dominated in doubles, handling Pearl Hettich and Kayci Olson 6-1, 6-0, while Elina Park and Serena Patel worked a bit longer to beat Lelyzaveta Antonova and Oumou Diakite 6-3, 7-5.
Now J-D faced no. 3 seed Oneida in the sectional semifinals on Thursday, but here the Red Rams’ run was halted as it lost a 6-1 decision to the Indians.
It was Pollock and Farah preventing a shutout as they beat Mattie Hicks and Hannah Myatt 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, but Oneida won the other three doubles matches in straight sets and swept the singles. Reid did go to a third set, only to take a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 defeat to Jenna George.
Manlius-Pebble Hill made it to the Class C sectional quarterfinals last Tuesday before the no. 11 seed Trojans, who had knocked off no. 6 seed Westmoreland in the first round, lost to no. 3 seed Skaneateles 5-2.
Parmees Fazeli won in first singles over Kenna Ellis 6-0, 6-1, with Amatees Fazeli defeating Isabella Kroon 6-1, 6-4, but Ava Benedict took a 6-1, 6-3 defeat to Lily Miller.
Then the Lakers swept all four doubles matches. MPH only got close in one of them as Emma Gross and Eden Hildebrandt fell to Sofia Capozza and Sophia Sorderberg 7-6, 6-4.
