As they do each spring, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool boys tennis teams encountered each other last Monday afternoon at the start of another crowded week of matches.
And the Northstars got the best of it, beating both the rain and the Warriors in a 7-0 decision that was preserved by a pair of doubles matches that went to three sets.
C-NS had Jonathan Corl and Brandon Millias outlast Liverpool’s Eli Barbour and Adam Ritter 6-2, 6-7 (10-8), 10-6, while Ethan Dupell and Will Janusz, two games from defeat, rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Owen Dann and Matt Kane.
The other doubles matches only lasted two sets, Ryan Gallagher and Edwin Hirsh enduring a second-set tie-breaker, but won 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) as Josh Matyasik and Holden Sarosy won over Caleb Arnold and Shobit Sharma 7-5, 6-1.
All of the singles matches belonged to the Northstars as James Corl handled Aaron Alejo 6-1, 6-0, with Ryan Hill rolling past Ben White 6-0, 6-2 and Wyatt Dupell claiming a 6-0, 6-4 decision over Aiden Barbour.
Liverpool went from here to a 7-0 defeat to West Genesee on Wednesday afternoon. Austin Huntress-Kennedy, in singles, lost, 6-3, 6-1, to Ben Paoli, while the closest doubles match had Barbour and White falling to Stefan Atanasov and Noah Ruston 6-2, 6-3.
As that went on, Baldwinsville got back on the court and defeated Syracuse East 5-1, the Bees seeing Antonio Marsallo, Eric Smith and Christian Treichler win their singles matches without dropping a set.
In doubles, Larry Lewis and Austin Mackley lost, 6-3, 7-6, to Yasin Hassan and Salimo Musa, but Max Funicello and Nick Licciardello defeated Kyle Giardine and Tom Moore 6-0, 6-4, with Phil Fiorentino and Connor Tutor topping Devin Murphy-Stanley and Curran Shannon 6-0, 6-2.
That set up a far more dramatic match on Thursday, B’ville and West Genesee seeing five different matches go to three sets, including all the doubles contests, and the Bees doing just enough to edge the Wildcats 4-3.
Each side had a singles point in the books, Marsallo handling James Plunkett 6-3, 6-0, when Leonardo Vona found himself in a third-set tie-breaker with Ryan Joyce, but able to win it and take the match 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3).
The doubles side was a series of classics. Fiorentino and Tutor led before a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Ty Lisi and Max Mekker, with Colin Savage and Clayon Speach getting a first-set shutout, yet still losing to Paoli and Dan Good 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.
So the other B’ville teams had to win – and did so, Funicello and Licciardello staging their own big comeback to beat Stefan Atanasov and Noah Ruston 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 as Treichler, paired with Hunter Dukat, held off David Puma and Michael White 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
With far less drama, C-NS shut out Syracuse East 7-0. Dupell, Hill and James Corl lost just four total game in six sets of singles play, with Millias and Jon Corl beating Murphy-Stanley and Giardine 6-2, 6-3 as Gallagher and Hirsh won by those same scores over Yassin Hassan and Salimo Musa.
