CENTRAL NEW YORK – One match victory – and in the end, a single set – ended up separating the Cazenovia girls tennis team from making an appearance in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament.
Oneida edged the Lakers 3-2 Saturday in the sectional state qualifier which pitted the Class C and B team champions against one another, and it proved an instant classic with three of the matches going to five sets.
Cazenovia got a quick point in second singles when Madden Cobb swept Maddie Barretta 6-2, 6-2. Then a second Lakers point arrived when Ava Galton and Audrey Henry rallied and, twice two games from defeat, managed to outlast Peyton Hoang and Phoebe Fuller 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Still, another point was required, and the Express snatched one of them when Tessa Myatt and Lexi DeGroat put away Nora Berg and Lila Campagna 6-3, 6-4, Berg moving from her usual place in singles for this match.
Leah Bell, in first singles, pushed Kaylee French to a third set but lost 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, while in doubles Claire Vaccaro and Katie Williams also rallied to extend the match, yet also lost 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to Myah Rainbow and Emily French.
Since most of its energy was focused on the state qualifier, Cazenovia had only modest success in the sectional Division III singles and doubles tournaments earlier in the week.
Williams and Vaccaro had the top doubles seed, and rolled through the first two rounds, beating the teams of Molly-Moses-Caitlin Sammon (Marcellus) and Tatum Bagnell-Emily Balduzzi (Westhill) in striaght sets. However, in the semifinals Williams and Vaccaro were upended by Christian Brothers Academy’s team of Audrey Schaefer and Maddie Kanervko 6-3, 7-5.
Schaefer and Kanervko would go on to lose the final to their CBA teammates, Julie Zdep and Maddie Evans, who had to go through five matches as a no. 15 seed starting with a 10-6 opening-round win over Audrey Henry and Charlotte Rushing. Back in the quarterfinals Galton and Campgna took a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Westhill’s Phoebe Gumaer and Samantha Burkett.
Moving to singles, Bell occupied the no. 2 seed, but after handling Lyla Falkenmeyer (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) 6-0, 6-3 she was upended in the quarterfinals by Skaneateles’ no. 7 seed, Addison Zieler, 7-5, 6-3.
As Zieler reached the finals before falling to her Lakers teammate Eva DeJesus in straight sets, Cobb and Berg both took round-of-16 losses, Cobb falling to CBA’s Rowan Doyle 6-2, 6-3 after topping Skaneateles’ Katie Danforth 10-3 as Berg beat Natalia Mauri (General Brown) 10-4 but had a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to another CBA player, Clare Schaefer.
Chittenango competed in the sectional Division II tournament, where in singles Leah Ezzo beat Zoe Ruszala (Central Valley Academy) 10-7 in the first round before a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) defeat to East Syracuse Minoa’s Kelly Li.
The Bears’ doubles team of Molly Douglas and Evelyn Keville won over ESM’s Caroline Sitnik and Lila O’Brien 10-8 before falling to Maddie Barretta and Kaylee French (Oneida) 6-0, 6-0.
