CENTRAL NEW YORK – An 8-0 start was great, but payback would feel better.
That was the mindset the Skaneateles boys tennis team took into last Friday’s match against Manlius Pebble Hill, the team it lost to 3-2 in last spring’s Section III Class C semifinals.
And the Lakers were able to get even, its 4-1 victory propelled by a singles sweep that included two 6-0, 6-0 shutouts by Jake Salzhauer over Jon Howard and Peter Salzhauer over Eric Hu.
In first singles Noah Soderberg got past an early tiebreak to beat Jasmin Zaman 7-6 (7-1, 6-2) , while Lucas Woodcock and Will Salszhauer salvaged a doubles split when they beat Donovan Foster and Owen Hay 6-4, 6-2, the same scores by which James Lovier and Asher Kozub lost to Andy Lurvey and Devan Trikha.
Before all this, the Lakers asserted itself with four victories, none of which was bigger than a 5-0 shutout over Cazenovia last Thursday that was part of a twin bill.
This Lakers duel would feature single-set matches to 10 games. In them, Jake Salzhauer blanked Cooper Frazee 10-0 and Peter Salzhauer topped Liam Robertson 10-1, with Soderberg handling Max Reger 10-2.
Matches were closer in doubles, Woodcock and Will Salzhauer won 10-6 over Jackson Reger and Sam Kegey, with Lovier and Kozub topping Robbie Dorus and Evan Molloy 10-4.
Skaneateles had already beat Cortland 4-1 earlier that day, Soderberg taking the only setback when he fell to Tyler Cranfield 10-6. but Kozub blanked Quintin Hill 10-0 and Lovier beat Kyle Taylor 10-3, with the Salzhauers in doubles not dropping a game to match what Case Pavlus and Lucas Woodcock did.
In the case of last Monday’s 5-0 win over Lafayette, not once in 10 sets did the Lancers even earn a single game against the Lakers’ powerful lineup. Soderberg, Lovier and Kozub had the singles wins, with the Salzhauers gaining a shutout along with Pavlus and Woodcock.
This didn’t change much in last Wednesday’ s match against Mexico, a 5-0 decision where Kozub allowed two games to Norman Freeman but still won 6-0, 6-2, while Soderberg blanked Ethan Gilbert and Lovier did the same to Owen Gilbert.
Pavlus, now paired with Will Salzhauer, worked a little longer, but still beat Calum Forbes and Louis Freeman 6-3, 6-1, while Peter and Jake Salzhauer took out Kevin Perlet and Sam Britton.
Back on Wednesday Marcellus returned to action and shut out Pulaski 5-0. Liam Lundrigan blanked Ethan Purdy 6-0, 6-0 as Will Louer and Owen Fontaine both had 6-1, 6-1 wins over, respectively, Ethan Wiegel and Byrdie Denny.
Ethan Hubbard and Ryan Welch also got a 6-0, 6-0 shutout, handling Shaun Archer and Ayden McNitt, with Gavin Thompson and Jon Birchler ripping past Elijah Wilder and Caleb Roach 6-2, 6-0.
Westhill won, too, topping Onondaga 4-1. Clark Durant’s 7-5, 6-1 singles win over Illia Kysklak highlighted a single sweep where Jackson Flegel and Zane Eldred also won in two sets and the doubles team of Andrew Sadowski and Hayden Platt worked past Gavin Dixie and Lucas Allen 6-2, 6-4.
West Genesee was overwhelmed last Wednesday by Baldwinsville in a 7-0 defeat. None of the Wildcats’ singles players earned a game in six sets, while in doubles the closest match was still a 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Evan Powers and Jonah Hanlon to the Bees’ duo of Eoin Burke and Steve Piscano.
