Oneida girls defeat Ichabod Crane 3-2, advance to states in team tennis
Oneida's undefeated girls are heading to New York's state team tennis tournament for the second time in three years after Section III's Class B and Division II champions defeated Ichabod Crane from Section II.
Oneida's Express (21-0) beat Ichabod Crane's Riders 3-2 in a regional playoff at Drumlins Tennis Center on Saturday. The Express had beaten Cazenovia, Section III's Class C champion, 4-3 one week earlier to earn the section's entry in the state Division II playoffs.
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The state team tournament competes in two divisions while Section III continues to compete in three classes. Classes B and C share one spot in state competition.
Ichabod Crane took two of the three singles matches at Drumlins and Oneida players, who have played four doubles matches throughout the season, earned a pair of three-set victories and swept the two doubles spots.
Lilly Gormley, playing third, earned Oneida's one singles victory, coming back after losing a first-set tie-breaker to defeat Amara Gabriel 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-2.
Freshmen Madelyn Barretta and Kaylee French also played three sets to win their match at first doubles. They won the first set, lost the second, and took the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 with what coach Todd Hicks described as a "great third set."
Gormley, Barretta and French were still on the courts with Oneida trailing 2-1 after the first two singles matches and second doubles were already complete. Barretta and French closed out their match, tying the score at 2 as Gormley started her third set.
Madison Castle and Claire Vaccaro earned the first point for the Express with their 6-2, 6-3 doubles win. Samantha Lantzy and Maya Brennan were 2-0 winners in singles play for Ichabod Crane.
Julianna Caroli and Myah Rainbow, who played singles matches Saturday, entered Section III's individual state qualifier tournament as an unseeded doubles team earlier last week and advanced to the finals with wins over pairs seeded second and third. They were beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Baldwinsville's Sonia Nadzan and Elaina Nesbitt, the top-seeded duo that had beaten Barretta and Vaccaro earlier in the day.
Advancing to the final, earned Rainbow and Caroli a spot in the state's individual tournament that starts with the first of three days of competition Thursday at Sportime in Schenectady.
The team tournament will be played Nov. 3 at the United States Tennis Association's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Oneida tennis team wins regional playoff, advances to states
