Emerging from a no. 8 seed, the Cazenovia girls tennis team used a big upset of the top seeds from Clinton to initiate a run at the Section III Class C team championship.
It was the Lakers against the undefeated, top-seeded Warriors in last Tuesday’s sectional quarterfinal, and a hard-fought singles point from Clare Douglas made the difference as Cazenovia stunned Clinton 3-2.
Both sides had little difficulty getting two points. In doubles, the Lakers had Alex Galle and Baylee Pierce handle Emily Smith and Madeline Walters 6-0, 6-1, while Julia Knutsen and Emma Schwartz beat Maggie Bailey and Abigail Soika 6-2, 6-3.
Up in singles, Nova Berger took a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Sabina Rodriguez-Plate as Nina Royer worked hard, but lost 7-6, 6-2 to Mei Cassidy-Heekin, leaving it up to third singles, where Douglas was facing Casey Vechery.
The first set went 7-5 in favor of Douglas, with Vechery bouncing back to grab the second set 6-3. With the team match at stake, the third set saw Douglas fall behind 3-0, only to catch up at 5-5 and then, breaking serve, defeated Vechery 7-5 to help the Lakers advance.
This got Cazenovia to a semifinal against a familiar opponent, no. 5 seed Marcellus, whom it had lost to 6-1 in the Aug. 29 season opener. And even with the Lakers’ vast improvement, the playoff rematch ended with the Mustangs prevailing again 6-1.
Galle, in first singles, did beat Kathleen DeMarle 6-0, 6-3, but Marcellus earned the other singles points as Royer fell to Colleen Marsh 7-5, 6-2 and Berger, despite a second-set shutout, lost, 6-0, 0-6, 6-2 to Danielle Copp.
Douglas and Pierce paired in doubles, but lost to Elaina Mahoney and Megan Mitchell 6-3, 6-1 as, by those same scores, Knutsen and Schwartz fell to Kaitlyn Kemp and Morgan Walsh.
Regan Dauenhauer and Mae Sayre were on the court a bit longer in a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Sophia Shaw and Maddie Vetsch, with Katie Pavelchak and Emma Thornton falling to Bella Clarke and Casey Conklin 6-3, 6-0.
Marcellus went on to take a narrow 4-3 defeat to Skaneateles in the sectional final a day later at Mott Courts in Utica.
While all that was going on, Chittenango, who beat Cazenovia 6-1 on Sept. 30, won its sectional Class B quarterfinal last Tuesday, the no. 4 seed Bears shutting out no. 5 seed Carthage 5-0.
Anna Rooney’s 6-0, 6-0 singles romp over Gia Doldo set the tone, with Delaney Dawkins handling Isabelle Chambers 6-0, 6-1 and Brooke DiFlorio working a bit longer to unseat Andy Fulmer 6-4, 6-2.
Riley Ellis and Sarah Lanphear got a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of their own against Hannah Boshart and Claire O’Connor as Abbie Austin and Allison Soulier won over Jocelyn Bura and Macee Trudeau 6-2, 6-4.
This put the Bears up against top seed New Hartford in Thursday’s semifinals, a task that proved too much for Chittenango as it lost 7-0 to the Spartans.
Ellis and Lanphear were on the brink of a point, only to have Rachel DeRocco and Tess Evans rally to beat them 3-6, 7-6, 15-13. Brianna Crystal and Mya Vincent fell to Victoria Cioni and Nina Paciello 7-5, 6-3.
Elsewhere in doubles, Abbie Austin and Allison Soulier had a 6-0, 6-3 defeat to Sophia Burynski and Avery Walters as Keelin Davie and Jessica Hallock lost to Danielle DeRocco and Divya Sinha 6-2, 6-3.
Up in singles, DiFlorio had the closest match, pushing Nicole Farkouh in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat, with Rooney running into Grace LaFountain and taking a 6-1, 6-1 loss as DeMauro lost to Sophia Farkouh 6-0, 6-1.
