To properly prepare itself for the challenges in the SCAC Empire division, the Liverpool boys tennis team was to play three times last week on consecutive days against non-league foes.
It started well enough, with the Warriors shutting out Pulaski 4-0 last Monday afternoon, not dropping a single game in any of the four matches that were completed.
That meant, in singles, 6-0, 6-0 shutouts by Aaron Alejo over Rorey Endsley and by Ben White over Rafael Aguilar.
Then Liverpool further damaged the Blue Devils when Eli Barbour and Adam Ritter topped Brian Pond and Garrett Starbird 6-0, 6-0, with Brayden Cabrey and Jon Kline handling Carson Hathaway and Cody Mullins by those same scores.
Liverpool went from here to a match Tuesday against Central Square, and it had a different result, the Redhawks able to do enough to edge the Warriors 4-3.
Already, two points were gained in singles when Alejo got past Ethan Westfall 6-2, 7-6 and White rolled past Kevin Kershner 6-3, 6-3. Aiden Barbour was on the brink of the clinching point, two games from victory in the third, but could not quite top Central Square’s Jacob Kloter in a 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 defeat.
Only once did Liverpool get a point out of doubles, Cabrey and Kline working past Lukas Capstraw and Michael Haywood 6-4, 7-5. Barbour and Ritter fell to Logan Foster and Jared Smith 6-3, 6-4, with Caleb Arnold and Shobhit Sharma losing to Austin Grosso and Gabe Peters 6-2, 7-6 as Austin Hundress-Kennedy and Austin Mai fell to Nick Bateson and Owen Carroll 7-5, 6-1.
Meeting Fulton on Wednesday, Liverpool moved to 2-1 on the season as it earned all four of the doubles points in a 5-2 victory over the Red Raiders.
Ritter and Eli Barbour worked past Sidney Bradshaw and Caleb Dahar 6-1, 6-2, while Cabrey and Kline won a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Ryan Nichols and Steven Thompson.
Owen Dunn and Matt Kane paired up to blank Noah Cordone and Reid Devendorf 6-0, 6-0, with Arnold and Sharma handling Ryan Barry and David Cordone 6-1, 6-0. Alejo and White lost in singles, but Aiden Barbour got his own 6-0, 6-0 win over Kyle Hotaling.
That same chilly Wednesday, Cicero-North Syracuse had its season opener against Oneida, the whole result hinging on a close doubles match that the Northstars pulled out on the way to edging the Indians 3-2.
Jonathan Corl and Brandon Millias won the first set over Jordan Farwell and Drew Hicks 6-3, only to drop the second set 6-4. In the final set, it went to a tie-breaker, but Corl and Millias pulled it out 7-5 to take that set 7-6 and get the clinching point.
Ryan Gallagher and Edwin Hirsh earned the other point in doubles, beating Spencer Igmire and Nolan Rush 6-1, 6-4. In singles, James Corl, two games from defeat, came from behind for a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 win over Aidan Hicks as Wyatt Dupell lost, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), to Seth O’Connell, with Ryan Hill falling to Ajay Hicks 6-3, 6-4.
Liverpool was set to play twice more during the week of the school break, hosting Auburn Tuesday and Cortland on Wednesday, while C-NS opens its SCAC Metro division slate April 22 against Baldwinsville.
