Norwich Tennis defeats Oneonta 6-1 on Wednesday and Johnson City 7-0 on Monday
NORWICH – The Norwich Purple Tornado varsity tennis squad have worked hard at turning their season around, moving from a once dismal 1-3 start to a now impressive 5-3 record – holding a four match win-streak.
Two matches played so far during this week of school, Norwich extended their streak to four when they showed some dominance on the courts with a 6-1 win over Oneonta, and a 7-0 shutout win over Johnson City.
“Norwich swept six points in straight sets with solid play in doubles and singles,” said Norwich head coach John Stewart with regard to the Oneonta match. “Taking the fourth point of the match was first doubles team of Carson (Maynard) and Austin (Benenati).”
Norwich’s success of late hasn’t just been success, it has been a team assembled into a perfect storm as coach Stewart has moved some pieces to attempt to put the Tornado players in the best situation possible.
The match-point, deciding the win came when Norwich’s Austin Benenati and Carson Maynard defeated Abigail Thorsland and Reece Thorsland in straight sets at 6-0 and 6-3.
Fellow Norwich doubles teams Jahlil Jones and Zac Marsh at second doubles took a win for the Tornado, downing Amanda Slater and Hailee Harby at 6-1 and 6-0. Third doubles for Norwich, completed the doubles sweep when Nathan Christopherson and Dakota Hall defeated Emma Knudsen and Alyssa Bredin at 6-1 and 6-2.
Second, third and fourth singles each snagged a win in the rout with Joel Fazio defeating Alex Mannion at 6-0 and 6-2, Zayn Harper besting Liz Knudsen at 6-0 and 6-0, and Matt Giglio defeating Julianna Pidgeon at 6-1 and 6-0, respectively.
Norwich’s lone loss to Oneonta came at the top spot, as Chris Catan bested Josiah Shaver in straight sets at 6-0 and 6-1.
Prior to the 6-1 win over Oneonta, Norwich impressively enjoyed even more success with a shutout 7-0 win over Johnson City, on the road.
A true rout of the Wildcats, Norwich defeated JC 85-18 in games played on Monday, April 24.
“Clearly a rout in which we did not give up a set,” said coach John Stewart. “I liked our focus tonight against a weaker team.”
Norwich swept the Wildcats from the courts – taking four singles wins, starting with Josiah Shaver downing Thomas Corey at 6-2 and 7-5 at first singles. Second singles saw Joel Fazio snag a near perfect win over Alex Hammer at 6-1 and 6-0. Third singles, Zayne Harper defeated Mikhael Boychuck at 6-0 and 6-2 – all before Matt Giglio capped off the singles with a 6-0 and 6-1 win over Musab Azam.
The doubles teams for the Tornado might have been even more dominant, as top doubles duo Austin Benenati and Carson Maynard snagged a solid 6-2 and 6-2 win over Nate Hacker and Mustafa Ahmad.
Zac Marsh and Jahlil Jones earned yet another straight set win when they defeated Coby Breeze and Martin Montano at second doubles, by a score of 6-1 and 6-3. Third doubles finished out the shutout on the road, as Dakota Hall and Nathan Christopherson earned forfeits.
Norwich varsity tennis (5-3 overall) will be on the road for their next two matches. Norwich takes on division leader Chenango Forks on Monday, May 1, when they travel to Forks for a 4:15 p.m. Start.
Oxford Tennis splits, defeats Hancock 5-0 – falls to Windsor 3-2
OXFORD – Oxford now sits at a solid second place in the MAC league – holding a 2-2 overall record, after splitting matches thus far this past week.
On Monday, April 24, Oxford hosted the Black Knights of Windsor in an non-league matchup which wouldn’t fall their way, as Windsor prevailed 3-2 on the day.
The decision in the Windsor matchup was simple – Windsor snagged all of the single matches while Oxford grabbed both of the doubles.
