CAZENOVIA – Armed with a strong core of players and plenty of tournament experience, the Cazenovia girls tennis team went all-out to claim the Section III Class C championship.
And the Lakers got it, winning three times in a span of 48 hours amid hot, summer-like conditions, capped by Wednesday’s decisive 5-2 victory over Marcellus in the finals.
These same teams had met Sept. 11, and Cazenovia won that day, too, by a 5-2 margin. Here, it would take five of the six contested matches as, again, a small roster meant the Lakers forfeited a point in doubles.
Dominant in singles, Cazenovia saw Madden Cobb race past Sofia Tufenkjian 6-1, 6-1, while Leah Bell, in first singles, won 6-1, 6-2 over Xian Angotti and Nora Berg put away Katie Devereaux 6-1, 6-2.
In doubles, the Lakers had its lone setback when Audrey Henry and Lily Campagna were unable to recover from dropping a first-set tiebreak in a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 defeat to Ella Lutwin and Molly Moses.
However, Rachel Molloy, normally a singles player, paired with Grace Probe, and they beat Korinne Kemp and Shaelyn Kelly 6-3, 6-0, while Ava Galton and Kate Williams won 6-3, 6-2 over Sophie Clarke and Abby Finn.
A 12-1 regular season meant the Lakers were the no. 2 seed. At home in Monday’s quarterfinals, Cazenovia earned a 4-1 victory over no. 7 seed Copenhagen.
Getting both points in doubles, the Lakers had Galton and Williams beat Stella Bukler and Andrea Doyle 6-2, 7-5, with Berg and Probe handling Bailey Presley and Sarah Richardson 6-1, 6-1.
Molloy lost a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 singles match to Rhianna Kirner, but the Lakers got the other two points when Bell blanked Arcara Speicher 6-0, 6-0 and Cobb got a 6-2, 6-0 win over Rylee Presley.
With top seed Lowville eliminated by Skaneateles, Cazenovia was the highest seed left as, in Tuesday’s semifinals, it met no. 6 seed Manlius Pebble Hill, who had ousted no. 3 seed Westmoreland.
Both sides had to forfeit matches in doubles – but in the four matches that were contested, the Lakers claimed four of them on the way to eliminating the Trojans 5-2.
Bell rolled past Caroline Mezzalingua 6-1, 6-1, with Cobb earning a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Fariel Migeed that made up for Molloy, in first singles, falling to Amitees Fazeli 6-1, 6-0.
Galton, paired with Lila Campagna, got through a first-set tiebreak and won 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 over Mira Zhang and Amy Walsh, while Berg and Probe were together again and prevailed over Rose Fallon and Sabrina Loop 6-3, 6-4.
It all led to the final against Marcellus, who had edged Skaneateles 4-3 in the other semifinal, but would not find the same success against these Lakers.
