CENTRAL NEW YORK – Girls tennis players from Cazenovia and Chittenango would each make spirited runs through their respective Section III tournaments before the warm weather subsided.
In Division III, where the first three rounds were played Tuesday at Syracuse University’s Skytop Courts, Cazenovia had its doubles team of Julia Knutsen and Emma Schwartz make a run to the semifinals, earning a berth in this week’s state qualifier at Drumlins Country Club.
It took three sets for Knutsen and Schwartz to fight past Skaneateles’ Kelsey Rutledge and Emma Whipple 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 before an impressive quarterfinal where they handled another Skaneateles pair, Sofia Capozza and Rachel Hackler, in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
Leading Camden’s Adeline Houser and Brianna O’Drain early in the semifinal, Knutsen and Schwartz could not hold on to it, taking a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat. Houser and O’Drain lost to Skaneateles’ Ella Danforth and Sophia Soderberg in the final two days later.
As for Quinlan Emhoff and Megan Kuhn, they got close to joining Knutsen and Schwartz in the semifinals. A first-round 11-9 win over Allison Ball and Gracie Durant (Canastota) was followed by a 7-6, 6-4 win over Korrine Kemp and Claire Wrona (Marcellus). They led Burnahm and Edgar early in the quarterfinals before taking a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat.
Erin Kuhn and Katie Pavelchak won 10-7 over Delaney Carroll and Jillian Eckert (Westhill) before Skaneateles’ Ella Danforth and Sophia Soderberg beat them 6-0, 6-0.
In singles, Claire Douglas blanked Rubi Zabielowicz (Lowville) 6-0, 6-0 before a 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal loss to Jordan-Elbridge’s Anisa Bort. Rachel Molloy handled Lainie Liberatore (Camden) 6-3, 6-2 before she lost her quarterfinal to the top seed, Sknaeateles’ Kenna Ellis, 6-3, 6-0.
Baylee Pierce got through a 10-5 opening-round match with Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Claudia Marsello, only to lose in the next round 6-0, 6-1 to Marcelus’ Danielle Copp.
Meanwhile, they held the early rounds of the Division II sectional tournament at Utica Parkway Courts, where Chittenango saw its doubles team of Allison Soulier and Anna Spencer reach the semifinals, joining Knutsen and Schwartz at the state qualifier.
Soulier and Spencer rolled past Mexico’s Ella Blunt and Amita Druce 6-1, 6-2, leading to a quarterfinal where, again in straight sets, they won over Oneida’s Jenna George and Madelyn Harris 6-3, 6-4.
In the semifinals, Soulier and Spencer lost, 6-3, 6-0, to Jamesville-DeWitt’s duo of Mona Farah and Tara Pollock, who went on to beat Oneida’s Mikah Albro and Hannah Myatt in the finals.
In singles, the Bears had two entries. Sarah McKillip dropped her opening-round match 10-8 to J-D’s Sevara Abduvalieva, while Maddy Douglas had a 10-0 defeat to Whitesboro’s Lauren Levitano.
