SYRACUSE – Girls tennis stars from three different area high schools won matches during last Tuesday’s Section III state qualifying tournament at Syracuse University’s Drumlins Tennis Club, but none were able to get past the quarterfinals.
Back on Oct. 12, Skaneateles saw Isabelle Soderberg beat her teammate, Eva DeJesus, for the Division III singles title. Now both entered the state qualifier, but it was DeJesus holding the no. 11 seed and Soderberg the no. 15 seed.
DeJesus faced the no. 6 seed, Whitesboro’s Lauren Levitano, in the first round and, after dropping the first set, rallied to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, but it didn’t carry over into the quarterfinals, when Baldwinsville’ Mira Nadzan, the no. 3 seed, beat her 6-3, 6-1.
The low seed for Soderberg meant she had to face the no. 2 seed, Jamesville-DeWitt’s Mona Farah, who proved too tough, prevailing 6-0, 6-1 and eventually winning the tournamen, gaining a berth in this weekend’s state tournament this weekend in Schenectady.
Over in doubles, the sectional Division III champions, Westhill’s Isabella Johnson and Kathleen Rogers, were the no. 8 seed and also went 1-1 overall.
Johnson and Rogers turned back Manlius Pebble Hill’s Mira Zhang and Amy Walsh 7-6, 6-3, in the opening round, but were overwhelmed by Baldwinsville’s top-seeded duo of Sonia Nadzan and Elaina Nesbitt 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
On the other half of the bracket, West Genesee had Angelina Allen and Calina Olson as the no. 3 seed, favored to reach the semifinals, but only getting through two rounds.
In the opening round, Allen and Olson won 6-2, 6-1 over Mexico’s Ella Blunt and Avery Mack, but in the quarterfinals ran into Oneida’s Myah Rainbow and Juliana Caroli, who won in two sets 6-3, 6-3 to end Allen and Olson’s season.
Rainbow and Caroli would make it all the way to the finals before taking a straight-set defeat to Baldwinsville’s Sonia Nadzan and Lainey Nesbitt.
