North Country Tennis Roundup: Sweep City, Split Decisions, And A Few Nail-Biters

North Country tennis spent the day doing what it does best, which is producing a little bit of everything and refusing to make life easy for scorekeepers. There were sweeps, team splits, a few straight-set clinics, and enough three-set drama to keep the courtside chatter warm for another round.

NCCS Wins Big, Then Splits The Damage Nearby

The most complete performance came from NCCS girls, who rolled past NAC 5-0 and made it look almost rude. All three doubles teams won in straight sets, while Allie Langlois and Talia Peryer handled singles duty without giving the opposition much room to breathe.

The boys’ side was a different story, because tennis rarely agrees to one script for more than about 20 minutes. NAC edged NCCS 3-2, leaning on its doubles depth after NCCS picked up straight-set wins from Kaze Carpenter and Ben Bresnahan in singles.

That match turned on the doubles courts, where NAC’s Shane Gilmore and Kameron Chinchilla, Brycen LaBombard and Jake Manor, and Milo Wilson and Corbin Darmour all delivered. Two of those three doubles contests went the distance, which is tennis code for everyone pretending not to gasp between points.

Saranac also had a split day against AuSable Valley, with the boys cruising 5-0 and the girls dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker. Pablo Ontanon and Rodrigo Del Moral set the tone early for the Saranac boys with straight-set singles wins, while Jasper Girard and Isaac Couture added a doubles point.

Beekmantown Keeps Rolling, Plattsburgh Stays Sharp

Beekmantown’s girls remained on a heater of their own, blanking Plattsburgh 5-0 and continuing an unbeaten run that looks more convincing by the week. Olivia Hagadorn, Carly Hagadorn, Julia Conroy, Lucy Conroy, Sawyer Fleming, and Jade Burdo all won in straight sets, which is about as clean as a team result gets.

The BCS girls barely broke a sweat, though Robin Lesinski and Maddy Ventre supplied the match of the day in the No. 3 doubles slot, finishing a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 comeback. The Hagadorn sisters at No. 1 and No. 2 singles were businesslike, and the Conroys kept the pressure on from the doubles side.

Plattsburgh’s boys answered with a 4-1 win over Beekmantown, led by Ruhan Bamber and Patryk Klimkiewicz in the top two singles spots. Owen Doorey and Aiden Drolette secured another point in doubles, and Kane Ready with Eli Wilson finished the job in a three-set No. 3 doubles battle.

AuSable Valley’s girls made Plattsburgh work harder than the boys did, but the Hornets still came away with a 4-1 win. Emma Slattery and Ava Weiss won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while Reese Boire and Dana Lavalley, plus Bela Meyer and Delaney Faucher, closed out the team victory in doubles.

Peru, Seton Catholic, And The Value Of Clean Work

Peru doubled up Lake Placid with wins in both boys’ and girls’ play, and the boys’ result was especially tidy at 5-0. Collin Powers posted a straight-set win at No. 1 singles, then the doubles teams of Isaac Hathaway and Camden Sweeney, Evan Brubach and Cogan St. Denis, and Gavin Sypek and Augustus Kingsley-Ryan all did their part.

The Peru girls were the ones who had to sweat a little, edging Lake Placid 3-2. Fiona Sullivan took the lone singles win for the Bombers, but the Nighthawks countered with straight-set doubles victories from Madison Mero and Alexis Burdo, Mia Winters and Brooke Taptick, and Ada Ross and Avery Alterie.

Seton Catholic also ran into a stronger NCCS boys team, falling 4-1 in Champlain. Ben Bresnahan had the standout win for the Cougars, grinding through a three-set No. 1 singles victory after dropping the opener, while Cade Brooks and Kayden Dupee added a doubles point.

The girls’ match there was not really a match so much as a warning label for everyone else in the region. NCCS swept Seton Catholic 5-0, with Brynn Hite, Lexi Arno, and the Peryer sisters, Talia and Tenley, all winning in straight sets as the Cougars kept building momentum.

What It All Adds Up To

Taken together, the results paint a familiar picture in high school tennis, one part dominance, one part depth, and one part surviving the doubles courts. The teams that controlled the top singles lines still had to finish the job elsewhere, because doubles keeps the sport honest and occasionally inconvenient.

Beekmantown’s girls look especially tough to crack, and NCCS’s girls are not exactly treating opponents with any sentimental value. Plattsburgh’s boys and Peru’s boys also showed that a reliable top of the lineup can carry a team through the kind of team match where momentum changes hands every few games.

If there is a common thread, it is this, the margin between a sweep and a split can be one tiebreak, one third set, or one doubles pairing deciding it has had enough of the suspense. That is tennis, forever charming and just a little bit cruel.