SYRACUSE – Whether it was in singles or doubles, girls tennis players from Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius would claim all the top honors in the Section III state qualifying tournament.
Mona Farah, the top seed in singles, won it for the Red Rams, not dropping a set in any of her four matches, while the Hornets had the doubles teams of Smareen Mangat and Sadie Toole claim the top spot.
In Farah’s case, her path to the finals included 6-0, 6-0 shutouts of Rylee Presley (Copenhagen) and Samantha Booth (Watertown) before a quarterfinal where she kept it going with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sknaeateles’ Eva DeJesus.
Only in the final, against Baldwinsville’s Mira Nadzan, was Farah seriously challenged, both sets proving close but Farah getting the crucial breaks of serve in a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Meanwhile, in doubles F-M would have both sets of finalists, including Mangat and Toole, who were the no. 4 seeds but beat the top-seeded B’ville duo of Elaina Nesbitt and Sonia Nadzan 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in the semifinals.
On the other half of the bracket Shreya Bhattacharya and Lindsey Chong took out Christian Brothers Academy’s Audrey Schaefer and Maddie Kanervko 6-1, 6-1 and rallied in the quarterfinals 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 over Oneida’s Myah Rainbow and Emily French.
Then, securing their state tournament berth, Bhattacharya and Chong routed their teammates, Caitlyn McLain and Julia Kim, 6-2, 6-0, leading to the finals, where Mangat and Toole beat them 6-4, 6-1.
Still with a chance at the third and final state tournament berth, McLain and Kim fell 6-4, 6-1 to Nesbitt and Nadzan, having earlier in the tournament beat J-D’s Yara Farah and Asha Viswanathan 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Back in singles, Manlius Pebble Hill standout Amitees Fazeli was the no. 4 seed, beating Brynn Weaver (Sauquoit Valley) 6-1, 6-0 before a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 loss to DeJesus.
CBA’s Rowan Doyle handled McKenzie Allard (Camden) 6-0, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals, but then lost to Nadzan 6-0, 6-0 as, in doubles, Julie Zdep and Madison Evans fell in the first round to Cazenovia’s Katie Williams and Claire Vaccaro 6-2, 6-4. F-M’s Erin McLain lost in the first round to DeJesus 6-0, 6-2.
Now it’s on to the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center where on Monday morning Farah, Mangat, Toole, Bhattacharya and Chong all will get underway in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
