VESTAL – Norwich’s varsity tennis team ended their one year hiatus from the finals of the doubles Class B Section IV tournament.

Heading into the second day of the Class B tournament, Norwich’s Josiah Shaver and Matt Giglio – third-seed – will be playing in the finals against top-seeded Lucas Niermeyer and Haashim Shah of Vestal.

“Josiah (Shaver)and Matt (Giglio) played solid, solid doubles tennis. It was really fun to watch two kids that communicated well and gelled well together,” said Norwich head coach John Stewart. “Josiah just put so much pressure on the opposing team. Matt was steady and solid at the baseline. It was a great one, two combo. They’re in the finals and we’re back to the finals after a one year hiatus.”

Norwich has now had a doubles team in the finals of the Class B tournament six out of the last seven years.

Better yet, with a win from Shaver and Giglio in the finals, Norwich would officially lock-up the tournament team win – currently sitting in first place with 22 points, leading Owego at 20 and Vestal at 19.

“They (Shaver and Giglio) have to beat the kids from Vestal, that will be tough, it will be a very difficult match to win,” said coach Stewart.

Either way, Shaver and Giglio are guaranteed to advance to the State Qualifier – however, with a loss Norwich could enter into a sticky situation with team standings. With a loss in the finals and a win in the consolation match – barring a Maine-Endwell finals win over Owego – Norwich would earn a tie for the tournament win with Vestal. With two losses in the finals and consolation matches, Norwich finishes in fourth-place.

Shaver and Giglio mowed down their competition en route to their finals berth, taking a round one win over Alex Koffman and Justin Barnes of Vestal at 6-3 and 6-4.

Advancing to the quarterfinals, Shaver and Giglio once again won in straight sets, this time over Derek Buffington and Brandon Brown of Maine-Endwell. Semifinals saw Shaver and Giglio have their toughest outing – besting Susquehanna Valley’s Dusty Root and Cody Jacobs at 6-2 and 7-5.

Norwich’s second doubles team – Austin Benenati and Carson Maynard – also saw a solid first day at the Class B tournament.

“Beating the M-E duo in the first round gave them tremendous confidence going on. They beat us in the first set pretty decisively. We made some adjustments, it was four all, neck and neck in the second set.,” said coach Stewart. “We turned it around and closed them out in the next two sets. That little two game spurt to close them out gave us big momentum going into the third set. They didn’t have any answers for us.”

Benenati and Maynard earned a round one win over Maine-Endwell’s Carson Truman and Jason Bertoni at 6-3 and 6-4.

“We (Benenati and Maynard), were pressing too much, we didn’t have to hit great shots, we just had to hit good shots. So we focused on hitting better shots,” said coach Stewart.

Taking that momentum from round one, Benenati and Maynard completed the sweep for the Tornado in the quarterfinals as both sets of doubles teams earned wins. Benenati and Maynard defeated Carter Wilson and James Wyatt of Chenango Valley in three sets at 2-6, 6-4, 6-3