On Championship Sunday at Individual Sectionals, Wellsville’s Miles and Bittel crowned Class B2 Doubles Champions, Fillmore’s Schilke punches ticket to State Qualifier

PITTSFORD — There was plenty of success to go around with the Wellsville Lady Lions again this season, as they put a bow on a 13-1 regular season campaign to claim top honors in the Class B2 Tournament beginning this week.

But before the team makes their advance towards a potential back-to-back championship, there was some preliminary hardware to handout this past weekend up north where both the Lady Lions, as well as the Fillmore Lady Eagles, took center stage at Canandaigua and, for the Championships, at Pittsford-Mendon to determine the best of the best in Individual Sectional play.

When the two day period of determination was all but history on Sunday, the Lady Lions brought one of the many grand prizes back home with them, as the doubles duo of Caitlin Bittel and Hanna Miles headlined a gratifying afternoon of redemption tennis, as they knocked off their opponents from last year’s Doubles Final — Sam Figueroa and Baylei Reed of Lyons, at Pittsford-Mendon to become this year’s Class B2 Doubles Champions.

Bittel and Miles took care of business to claim their championship patches after fighting their way through a tough first-set tiebreak with Figueroa and Reed, using the momentum from that victory to put towards a strong finish to their match, officially claiming redemption with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory.

The doubles partners were not the only Lady Lions competing for glory, as reigning Singles Champion Samantha Bidzerkowny took the court to defend her crown against Avoca-Prattsburgh’s Genevieve Dabby — an opponent she has not defeated this season. As for Dabby, she made it three times in a row against Bidzerkowny, as she was crowned Singles Champion following another fierce battle with a victorious claim by a 6-4, 6-3 decision.

In the Playbacks, Wellsville’s Peyton Cawley defeated Wayland-Cohocton’s Lillian Scholtes in the Singles Playback Final, utilizing a strong start before holding off a late push in the second set to score the 6-0, 7-5 victory. In the doubles matches, the team of McKenna Wonderling and Sarah Mattison fell in a tough battle in the Playback Final against Avoca-Prattsburgh’s team of Camryn Moore and Olivia Mullen, as the Lady Vikings tag-team swiped away a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) comeback win.

As for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Claire Schilke was awarded a forfeit win in Playback Singles Final play, submitting her trip to the State Qualifier round. As for the doubles team of Kirra Bentley and Molly Mahoney, they were defeated by Addison’s Alex Boutelle and Hadleigh Watson in Doubles Playback play, in a 6-3, 6-1 decision.

The winners from Championship Sunday will now advance to the Individual State Qualifier round at the Mendon Pool and Racquet Club, which is set to begin on October 18 at 1 p.m.

As for Team Sectionals, both Wellsville and Fillmore will get set to host Quarterfinal action in Class B2 play beginning on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The top-seeded 13-1 Lady Lions will face either No. 9 Clyde-Savannah or No. 8 Marcus Whitman, while the Lady Eagles, seeded third in the bracket after an 8-4 finish to the regular season, will battle either No. 11 Canisteo-Greenwood or No. 6 Wayland-Cohocton a third time this season, assuming the role as hosts at Houghton University.