ONONDAGA COUNTY – A single set, and a few games, ultimately kept the Baldwinsville girls tennis team from again upending Fayetteville-Manlius and taking the Section III Class A championship.
Armed with the confidence of its 2022 sectional final win over the Hornets, the Bees arrived at F-M Wednesday and was determined to not just repeat those performances, but avenge 4-3 and 5-2 regular-season defeats.
Amid hot, sunny conditions more conducive to the start of the season than the end of it, B’ville quickly asserted itself in singles as Mira Nadzan shut out Trisha Adavikolanu 6-0, 6-0 and Alya Kalfass handled Shreya Bhattacharya 6-1, 6-4.
Then, in first doubles, Elaina Nesbitt and Sonia Nadzan tacked on another point with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-3 win over Lindsay Chong and Sadie Toole, getting the Bees within a point of the title.
But the rest of the doubles belonged to F-M. Livia Zoanetti and Jasmine Rowda dropped a first-set tiebreak and lost, 7-6, 6-3, to Smareen Mangat and Erin McLain.
Also in two sets, Laine Zoanetti and Layla Trendowski fell to Angelina Fang and Caitlyn McLain 6-2, 6-3, with Juliette Pawelek and Carmela Budzich falling to Anokhi Dalal and Mariah Sun 6-1, 6-2.
Ultimately, it rode on third singles, where Ella Clary won the first set over F-M’s Selena Chen, but then saw Chen dominate the second set 6-0 and take the third set 6-3 to earn F-M back the sectional title in a 4-3 decision.
This showdown was the result of two playoff wins in the previous 48 hours, starting last Monday when the Bees rolled to a 7-0 shutout over Central Square in the quarterfinals.
Kalfass, Clary and Mira Nadzan all won their singles matches without dropping a game – Nadzan over Kate Hayes, Kalfass over Paige Westfall and Clary over Chloe Giblin.
Rowda and Livia Zoanetti got past Michelle Brissette and Emma Turo 6-1, 6-4. Trendowski and Laine Zoanetti won 6-2, 6-1 over Olivia Ruzekowicz and Lauren Perry as Pawelek and Budzich handled Kiera Meneilly and Caitlin Garvin 6-3, 6-0.
Then, as F-M was shutting out Christian Brothers Academy 7-0 in one semifinal, B’ville was nearly as dominant in its semifinal against no. 3 seed Auburn, taking out the Maroons 6-1.
Both Kalfass and Mira Nadzan had 6-0, 6-0 singles shutouts – Kalfass over Samantha Carr, Nadzan over Cara Vasile – while Clary completed the singles sweep, beating Alice Caruso 6-0, 6-3.
Other than Laine and Livia Zoanetti dropping their doubles match 6-2, 6-1 to Emerson Brown and Ashlyn Feneck, the Bees won the rest of these matches, too.
In a third-set tiebreak, Budzich, paired with Aiden Dubois, completed a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) comeback win over Sadie Morin and Olivia Schwab. Pawelek and Trendowski teamed to beat Lauren Sincebaugh and Emma Sroka 6-2, 6-2, while Nesbitt and Sonia Nadzan got past Alexandra Vitale and Audrey Carr 6-2, 7-5.
Early next week, B’ville singles and doubles players will enter the sectional Division I tournament, with the top four finishers advancing to the state qualifier.
