ONONDAGA COUNTY – So close the first time around, the Baldwinsville girls tennis team had a full belief that, on its home courts, it could catch and pass Fayetteville-Manlius.
The two sides met last Wednesday, less than three weeks after a 4-3 Hornets win in their Sept. 1 encounter, but here the F-M would prevail by a larger 5-2 margin, heavily leaning on doubles to subdue the Bees.
Getting on the board in singles, B’ville had Mira Nadzan roll past Trisha Adavikolanu 6-1, 6-0 as Alya Kalfass, in second singles, nearly matched that effort in a 6-2, 6-0 win over Shreya Bhattacharya.
However, Ella Clary lost 6-2, 6-0 to Selena Chen and the Hornets took every doubles match in two sets, the closest of them Sonia Nadzan and Lainey Nesbitt falling to Sadie Toole and Lindsey Chong 7-5, 6-4.
Jasmine Rowda and Laine Zoanetti struggled in a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Samreen Mangat and Erin McLain. Layla Trendowski and Carmela Budzich fell to Angelina Fang and Caitlyn McLain 6-2, 6-2 as Juliette Pawelek and Aiden DuBois lost to Anohki Dalal and Julia Kim 6-1, 6-1.
B’ville had to get through another 4-3 match last Monday, edging a tough West Genesee squad.
Kalfass and Mira Nadzan each won in lopsided singles matches giving up just three games in four total sets, while Clary needed two longer sets for a 7-5, 6-4 singles win over Sarah Domin.
Moving to doubles, Budzich and Laine Zoanetti lost in three sets, and so did Trendowski and Rawda, falling in a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (10-4) decision to Kailyn Drury and Hannah Sparks. But Nesbitt and Sonia Nadzan clinched it, routing Angelina Allen and Ava Amodio 6-1, 6-0.
It proved easier in last Tuesday’s 7-0 shuout of Liverpool, where B’ville made sure it did not peek ahead to the F-M showdown a day later.
Rallying in first singles, Mira Nadzan beat Angelica Underwood 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 as Kalfass and Laine Zoanetti lost just one game apiece in their respective singles matches.
Budzich, now paired in doubles with Pawelek, got a 7-5, 6-1 win over Lauren Graham and Kathy Scanna, while the teams of Nesbitt-Sonia Nadsan and Rawda-Trendowski each earned shutouts.
Matches against Henninger, Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool this week close out B’ville’s regular season.
