ONONDAGA COUNTY – What has proven true the last couple of seasons is that no opponent has tested the Fayetteville-Manlius girls tennis team like Baldwinsville, and yet the results are the same.
The Hornets defeated the Bees 4-3 last Tuesday afternoon, the exact same margin by which F-M got past B’ville twice in the 2023 season, including the Section III Class AA team final.
Having blanked Central Square 7-0 in its Sept. 6 opener, the Hornets were immediately challenged when its top two singles players, Shreya Bhattacharya and Samreen Mangat, each lost 6-1, 6-1 matches to, respectively, Mira Nadzan and Ayla Kalfass.
Erin McLain got her team’s lone point in singles, topping Jasmine Rawda 7-5, 6-2, while in doubles Anokhi and Samira Datal had a simlar battle but won 6-2, 7-5 over Emma Krukowski and Aiden Dubois.
And though Sadie Toole and Sonia LaHaye took a straight-set defeat, Lindsey Chong and Julia Kim shut out Laine and Livia Zoanetti 6-0, 6-0, with Caitlyn McLain and Mariah Sun nearly equaling it 6-1, 6-0 over Carmela Budzich and Ella Clary.
F-M then routed Oswego 7-0 a day later, with Sun getting a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Rowan Mott as McLain handled Sophia Cahill 6-0, 6-1 and Sonia LaHaye got past Emery O’Brien 6-0, 6-1. of the four doubles matches, only Sarah Olson and Eve Chin gave up games, but still got past Lyla Malley and Natalie Breitbeck 6-0, 6-2.
Then it was another important rivalry for F-M, only of the local variety as the Hornets faced Jamesville-DeWitt and emerged with a 6-1 victory over the Red Rams.
Mona Farah made sure J-D didn’t get shut out, winning in first singles 6-3, 6-0 over Chong, but Bhattacharya got a 6-4, 6-3 win over Asha Viswanathan and Mangat prevailed over Yara Farah 6-4, 6-3.
Sweeping the doubles, the Hornets had Toole and Kim pair up to beat Olivia Quackenbush and Jaeda Robinson, with LaHaye and Erin McLain getting past Olivia Clark and Ella Arzia. Caitlyn McLain won with Sun in doubles over Wenyan Ma and Anna Hasegawa as the Dalal sisters handled Kendall Cabiles and Kavya Arasu 6-1, 6-1.
This busy stretch concluded Friday with F-M routing Henninger 7-0. No games were allowed in six sets of singles by LaHaye, Sun and Erin McLain, with three more shutouts in doubles other than Toole and Mangat beating Ayla Pehlic and Claire Delaney 6-2, 6-1.
J-D won that same Friday over Oswego 6-1, claiming all four doubles matches in straight sets. Mona Farah easily turned back Emery O’Brien 6-0, 6-1, while Quackenbush handled Margaret O’Leary 6-2, 6-2.
Manlius Pebble Hill rolled past Mexico 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon, with doubles sweeps from the teams of Rose Fallon-Ferial Migeed and Amy Walsh-Mira Zhang as Amitees Fazelli, Jenny He and Audrey Arnold pulled off a singles sweep, none of them dropping a set.
A 4-3 defeat to Homer followed on Thursday afternoon, with He and Arnold both losing singles matches after Fazeli shut out Mackenzie Skodzinsky 6-0, 6-0 in first singles.
Walsh and Zhang won in doubles 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) over Sunny Park and Emma Dart, with Sarah Ma and Sophia Dowhy getting past Elizabeth McCloy and Catherine Van der Plujm 6-4, 6-3, though the teams of Fallon-Migeed and Nia Lewis-Sophia Lovett each lost in two sets.
