MANLIUS – A tremendous season for Liverpool girls tennis player Angelica Underwood would put her in position to reach the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at the Section III state qualifier.
Underwood entered last week’s sectional Division I tournament at Fayetteville-Manlius as the no. 2 seed, and would breeze through her first two matches on a chilly, windy Monday afternoon.
First, Underwood shut out East Syracuse Minoa’s Erin Murnane 6-0, 6-0, and followed that up by defeating F-M’s Erin McLain by those exact same scores.
What stood in the way of the title were two Baldwinsville players. A day later, in the semifinals, Underwood faced Ayla Kalfass and lost to the Bees’ standout 6-4, 6-3, Kalfass advancing to face her teammate, top seed Mira Nadzan, in the finals.
Liverpool also had Olivia Magnarelli in the field, winning a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) decision over Emerson Brown (Auburn) in the round of 16 before running into Nadzan in the quarterfinals and taking a 6-1, 6-0 loss.
Cicero-North Syracuse, who beat Liverpool twice in the regular season, mostly featured in doubles, where the duo of Mackenzie Prentice and Kat McRobbie-Taru would reach the quarterfinals from a no. 23 seed.
Prentice and McRobbie Taru first won a single-set, 10-8 battle with the no. 10 seed, Michelle Brissette and Emma Turo (Central Square), and then routed West Genesee’s Hannah Sparks and Carrie Schlenker 6-1, 6-2.
In the quarterfinals, though, Prentice and McRobbie Taru fell 6-2, 6-1 to the no. 2 seed, F-M’s Trisha Adavikolanu and Lindsey Chong, who eventually reached the finals.
Elsewhere for the Northstars, Megan Mieves and Lily Misco, the no. 4 seeds, took a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to CBA’s Meredith Sommers and Audrey Schaefer, who were the no. 13 seed. Lauren Malec and Andrea Iqball lost in the opening round.
Underwood has the no. 5 seed for the state qualifier, and in Tuesday’s opening round at Drumlins faces Manlius Pebble Hill’s Caroline Mezzalingua, a teammate of Amitees Fazeli, who happens to be the tournament’s top seed.
