Normally by the first full week of October, area high school girls tennis teams are wrapping up a regular season that would start in the summer heat of August.
Of course, 2020 is anything but normal, and instead Oct. 3 served as the first day of competition, with all sides scrambling to get in as many matches as possible before the weather got worse.
Fayetteville-Manlius had its first two matches back-to-back, commencing Friday with a 6-1 victory over West Genesee, one of the sides that has given the Hornets more trouble than anyone in recent decades.
Each of the singles matches went to F-M in straight sets, Anna Manta beating Alyssa Congel 6-0, 6-2 as Phoebe Wang topped Margaret Mello 6-0, 6-1 and Trisha Adavikolanu won over Ava Amodio 6-2, 6-2.
WG’s lone point came in doubles, where 2019 state tournament qualifiers Angelina Llanos and Katie Viau handled Samhitha Adavikolanu and Angela Iskander 6-2, 6-2.
Otherwise, the three doubles teams among them – Alexis Ahn-Emma Zogg, Natalie Hugo-Brooke Tester and Maya McKenzie-Camilla Wojtasiewicz – all gained their victories in two sets.
Then F-M beat Liverpool 6-1 on Saturday, with Wang turning back Angelica Underwood 6-3, 7-5 as Manta and Samhitha Adavikolanu also prevailed in singles. The doubles teams of Hugo-Tester, Wojtasiewicz-Sarah Brien and Mabel Hance-Katya Noble lost just one game in six combined sets.
A neighborhood battle last Friday pitted Jamesville-DeWitt against East Syracuse Minoa, and the Red Rams again got the best of it, taking a 4-2 victory.
Both singles matches went in J-D’s favor, Inika Gajra handling Caitlin Abbott 6-1, 6-0 as Celia Reid worked past Lizzy Phillips 6-0, 7-5.
Going to doubles, the Spartans had Jade Burgen and Katie Schmidt prevail 7-5, 1-6, 10-3 over Serena Patel and Lana Wisniewski, with Rhiannon Axtmann and Neveah Harris outlasting Meghan Evans and Linda Shen 7-6, 5-7, 10-4.
But the Rams got the other two points, seeing Courtney Keough and Elina Park beat Tierrah Bauer and Bella Sylvester 6-2, 6-1 as Mackenzie Burns and Jessica Gow won 6-4, 6-1 over Savana Caron and HannahNeish.
ESM had dropped a 3-2 decision to Cortland last Monday afternoon in its season opener, unable to gain a point in either of the doubles matches.
Going to three sets in first singles, Abbott outlasted Jordan Vail 6-1, 3-6, 10-5. Phillips needed just two sets to win 6-3, 6-2 over Rowan Harbin.
Christian Brothers Academy and Bishop Grimes would open on that first Saturday in October, the Brothers prevailing 6-1 over the Cobras.
In single-set matches to 10 games, CBA swept all four doubles matches while, in singles, Gieselle Vlassis and Rowan Doyle both earned 10-0 shutouts over, respectively, Sarah Falgiatano and Isabelle Kinsey, while Grimes’ Sofia Ziankoski salvaged a point for her side when she beat Allie Mancini in a 10-8 thriller.
Manlius-Pebble Hill turned back Phoenix 5-2 for its first win of the season as Amitees Fazeli and Ava Benedict won in singles. The Trojans’ doubles teams of Eden Hildebrandt-Caroline Mezzalingua, Emma Gross-Fariel Migeed and Zhijie Han-Sophia Menacho also earned points.
Following it up, MPH won head-to-head over Grimes 5-2 on Saturday, sweeping all of the points in doubles while also getting Morrow to beat Falgiatano 8-3 in singles. Ziankoski and Kinsey both won singles points for the Cobras.
