ONONDAGA COUNTY – Three area high school boys tennis teams entered the final stretch of the 2021 season without a defeat, but only two stayed that way.
Jamesville-DeWitt did so by not giving up a point to any opponents. When it defeated Cortland 7-0 on May 27, it completed a run where, in nine matches, it earned all 56 points that were on the line.
It went even further against the Purple Tigers, with Essex Glowaki (over Henry Storch) and Mark Bratslavsky (over Connor Tasselmyer) earning 6-0, 6-0 singles shutouts as Carson Souser claimed a forfeit.
Moving to doubles, three of the matches were forfeited, but in the one that was contested Mike Bratslavsky and Luke Cantone won 6-0, 6-0 over Mike Guido and Matt Meagley.
J-D would pick up a match against Christian Brothers Academy which may have allowed Glowaki to square off with CBA’s Ben Vlassis, arguably a duel of the area’s two best singles players.
Instead, Glowaki faced Soren Kang and won, 6-1, 6-1, but CBA claimed the first points off the Rams all season when Chris Cuomo beat Werner 6-4, 6-3 and Finn Doyle beat Neel Patel 6-0, 6-0.
Still, J-D pulled out the 3-2 decision by winning both of the doubles matches. Cantone and Mike Bratslavsky blanked John Engle and Will Vandemeer 6-0, 6-0, with Nathan Chen and Ryan Collins taking a bit longer to win 6-4, 6-1 over Caleb Buddie and Roy Nasr.
Fayetteville-Manlius couldn’t match J-D’s perfect point run against league foes, but also was undefeated as it took out West Genesee 7-0 back on May 27.
David Fernando, Cameron Lukasik and Fergus Brady did not drop a game in any of their singles matches. Falling behind in doubles, Ben Farber-McEntee and Andy Sun rallied past Noah Ruston and Jonathan Welles 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 in the closest of the four doubles matches.
It was CBA who got tripped up twice, first on May 27 by Cazenovia, who knocked off the Brothers 3-2 by taking both of the doubles matches.
Vlassis blanked Traian Cherciu 6-0, 6-0, with Kang rallying past Aiden Katleski 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, but Jake Wardel beat uomo 6-2, 7-5 and, in doubles, Buddie and Doyle suffered a 6-2, 7-6 loss to Tristan Alvisi and Carter Ruddy.
Then CBA fell to Skaneateles by that same 3-2 margin last Tuesday, where Vlassis and Kang both won 6-0, 6-0 shutouts over, respectively, Jake Salzhauer and Marty McNeil, but these other Lakers took every other match in two sets, the closest of them Buddie and Doyle falling to Parker Glowacki and Mirco Kunz 6-2, 7-5.
East Syracuse Minoa lost, 5-2, to Fulton on May 27, with both points in doubles as Rijad Muhic and Donovan Randall got past Simon Bradshaw and Shawn Cornell 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 as Jayce Domres and Josh Spilka won 6-1, 6-2 over Elijah Turner and Everett Wood. A 4-0 defeat to West Genesee on May 28 closed the Spartans’ regular season.
Manlius-Pebble Hill absorbed a 3-2 defeat to Skaneateles, swept in doubles but getting points in singles as Anthony Pitts beat Salzhauer 6-3, 6-1 and Kai Hokanson worked past McNeil 6-1, 6-3.
Another 3-2 loss followed, this one to LaFayette, where Hokanson and Deven Trikka won singles matches in straight sets, but Matt Roberson was denied the clinching point in a 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 defeat to Paul Coon.
Then MPH challenged CBA on Thursday afternoon. The Brothers prevailed 5-0 as Vlassis returned, beating Hokanson 6-0, 6-0 as Kang beat Fung 6-3, 6-0 and the doubles teams of Doyle-Vandemeer and Buddie-Nasr prevailed, too.
