Already with a Section III Division III title in their possession, Cazenovia girls tennis players Alex Galle and Nina Royer went after much more in last week’s sectional state qualifying tournament at Drumlins.
Sixteen doubles team entered the tournament, four from each of the divisions. Only the top three finishers would advance to this weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships in Latham.
The opening round on Tuesday had Galle and Royer against Christian Brothers Academy’s Grace Catalano and Aubrey Mills. Both sets were close, but the Lakers’ pair emerged with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
A couple of hours later, Galle and Royer met Oneida’s Mattie Hicks and Sydney Lusher in the quarterfinals. This one was not as close, with the Cazenovia duo needing just two sets to win 6-2, 6-4.
Having advanced to Thursday’s semifinals, Galle and Royer had two chances to earn the match victory it needed to reach the state tournament.
Up against Jamesville-DeWitt’s Mona Farah and Tara Pollock in that semifinal round, Galle and Royer played well early, but Farah and Pollock were better, prevailing 6-3, 6-1.
So the state tournament berth rode on the third-place match between Galle and Royer and the top-seeded Fayetteville-Manlius duo of Anna Manta and Phoebe Wang, who had lost to West Genesee’s Angelina Llanos and Katie Viau.
Having dropped the first set 6-3, Galle and Royer improved in the second set and nearly took it to a tie-breaker, but Manta and Wang held on, 7-5, and to join the West Genesee and J-D pairs in the state tournament.
In singles, Christian Brothers Academy’s duo of Gieselle Vlassis and Grace DelPino advanced to the state tournament, joined by Utica-Notre Dame’s Ellen Lyga.
