CENTRAL NEW YORK – Already with a Section III Class C team title in hand, members of the Cazenovia girls tennis team now sought individual honors.
The Lakers would bring most of its squad to Skaneateles’ Austin Park for last week’s sectional Division III tournament, where the top four finishers would advance to the state qualifier later this month.
In doubles, Grace Probe and Nora Berg were the top seeds, and backed up that lofty standing most of the way.
After a 6-2, 6-2 win over Madyson Austin and Aubrey Corcoran (Camden) in the round of 16, Probe and Berg went to the quarterfinals and, again in straight sets, beat Marcellus’ Abby Finn and Katie Devereaux 6-0, 6-3.
The semifinals brought another straight-set win, Probe and Berg handling Olivia Kirch and Haley Parker (General Brown) 6-2, 6-0 to set up a match in the championship round Thursday at Oneida High School against Westhill’s Isabella Johnson and Kathleen Rogers.
Try as they could, Probe and Berg could not quite match their success from earlier in the week, falling to Johnson and Rogers in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
Elsewhere, Ava Galton and Katie Williams made it through the opening round, only to take a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to South Jefferson’s Madison Pfleegor and Laurelle Surette.
Rachel Molloy was the no. 3 seed in Division III singles. In her opening-round match, Molloy routed Shaelyn Kelly (Marcellus) 6-1, 6-1, and then, after a rough first set, rallied in the quarterfinals to top Julia Flegel 0-6, 6-0, 6-1.
A day later, against Eva DeJesus (Skaneateles) in the semifinals, Molloy struggled to get going, ultimately taking a 6-2, 6-0 defeat as DeJesus advanced to meet her teammate, Isabelle Soderberg, in Thursday’s finals at Oneida, with Soderberg prevailing 7-6, 6-3.
Back in the round of 16, DeJesus had eliminated Cazenovia’s Madden Cobb 6-0, 7-5, while Leah Bell, after a 10-5 win over Rubi Zabelowicz, fell to Soderberg, 6-3, 6-2 in the next round.
In the Division II sectional tournament at Hamilton College, Chittenango had Allie Bartoszek and Maddy Douglas, in doubles, taking a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 defeat to Mexico’s Ella Blunt and Avery Mack, while Michelle LaTour and Evelynn Keville lost in the round of 16 in straight sets to Jordyn Howlett and Tessa Nash (Whitesboro) 6-2, 6-0.
In singles, Sarah McKillip lost in the opening round to Oneida’s Madison Castle 6-3, 6-2, while Maddy Douglas took a 6-0, 6-3 defeat to Castle’s teammate, Kaylee French.
