Contributor: PATTY HALL
In contrast to Section V Girls’ Tennis Individual Sectionals that took place on a colder than normal day, team sectionals were held on a warm, bright, and sunshine-filled Tuesday afternoon.
In Class A1, No. 1 seed Brighton took on No. 2 seed Victor. In the regular season, Brighton beat Victor 7-0 when the two met on September 20th. Brighton was victorious again this time 6-1 in the sectional finals. Although Brighton’s No. 1, 2, and 3 singles players Leyla Tozin, Kylie Mariano and Samantha Kotz all defeated Victor 6-0, 6-0, the doubles matches proved to all be very competitive matches. At first doubles, Brighton’s seniors Elizabeth Norris and Olivia Rizzo defeated Natalie Pipes and Morgan Spath 6-0, 7-6 (2).
At second doubles, Brighton’s Ella Hall and Chandhana Ravi split sets with Victor’s Catie Ginther and Meghan Abbott 6-4, 4-6 but ultimately won their match in the tie-break 10-5. At third doubles, Brighton’s Amelia Hutchinson and Sidonie Murphy made a comeback against Victor’s Emma Alvares and Grace Woodworth to win their match 0-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8(tie-break). Victor’s Hannah Brownlee and Caitlin Lalley defeated Brighton’s Katie Vitale and Neila Mariano at fourth doubles. This was Brighton’s eighth consecutive sectional title.
In Class A2, No. 1 seed Pittsford Mendon faced a familiar opponent in crosstown rival, No.2 seed Pittsford Sutherland. Mendon had secured a win against Sutherland in the regular season on September 20th 5-2. But this time, it would take two afternoons to determine the winner. Running out of daylight on Tuesday afternoon at the Penfield High School courts, the unfinished matches were completed on Wednesday at Nazareth College’s courts. For a second consecutive year, Mendon was victorious over Sutherland, 5-2.
Mendon’s wins included first singles Omika Patel defeating Minjee Kim 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; third singles Rihanshi Agrawal defeating Shushu Wu 6-3, 7-5; first doubles Jenny Zhao and Jessica Yao defeating Emma Hu and Allison Windisch 6-1, 6-0; third doubles Sia Patel and Aiza Ahmed defeating Ella Libby and Amy Liu in close sets 7-5, 7-5; and fourth doubles Grace Wu & Jiwoo Han defeating Alyssa Turner and Cristina Castillo 6-0, 6-1. Sutherland’s wins occurred at second singles when Michelle Han defeated Eshal Mobeen 6-1, 6-1 and Olivia Qin and Jasmine Wu defeated Sophie Khan and Vasu Jallgama 6-3, 7-6 (4).
In Class B1, No. 1 Geneva was matched against No. 3 HF-L (Honeoye Falls-Lima) at Palmyra-Macedon High School. This was the first time this season that the Geneva and HF-L teams competed, having last met in the 2021 team sectional semifinals when Geneva won 3-2. But 2022’s victory went to the HF-L Lady Cougars, who upset Geneva 5-0 to win its first sectional title in 12 years.
HF-L’s Mary Repass defeated Scout Porshet 6-3, 7-6 (4) at first singles. Hazel Jokl (HF-L) defeated Amber Paynter in a close match at second singles, 7-6 (2), 6-4. At third singles, HF-L’s Ava Youngblut defeated Jana Fladd 7-6 (4), 6-3. At doubles, HF-L’s Maddy Langley and Ellie Davis defeated Sophie Augustine and Payce Chu-Lustig 6-1, 6-2 while Ellie Casler and Sydney Emerson (HF-L) defeated Kelly Miller and Moniah Pilet 6-1, 6-4.
In Class B2, No. 1 Wellsville team competed against No. 2 Alfred-Almond at Livonia High School. These two teams competed on September 16th with Wellsville coming out victorious 4-1, and the sectional finals ended with the same result. At first singles, Wellsville’s Samantha Bidzerkowny defeated Candy Zhou in a close match 6-7 (4), 7-5, 10-7. Meagan Riley (Wellsville) defeated Jennifer Bensley 6-3, 6-2 at second singles. Alfred Alfred-Almond’s sole win was Sophia Symeslatini’s match at third singles against Sarah Mattison 7-5, 6-3. At doubles, three sets were needed for Wellsville’s Caitlin Bittel and Hanna Miles to defeat Beatrice Beaudry and Anna Yamal 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Teammates McKenna Wonderling and Kelsey Seely (Wellsville) defeated Mariam Eleshaky and Rose Schreiber, 6-2, 6-1.
Inter-Sectionals will take place on Monday, October 17th at a neutral location to be determined. For a second consecutive year, Brighton will face Pittsford Mendon at 4 p.m. and HFL will play Wellsville at 6 p.m. Winning teams will move on to regionals that takes place in Buffalo on October 22nd.
Leave a Reply