Camden Central School District -

On Thursday, October 17th, members of the Camden High School girl’s varsity tennis team participated in Section III Division II Individual Tournament play at the Parkway Recreation Center in Utica.

The Blue Devils brought three doubles tandems, and three singles competitors to the tournament, and saw success across the board.

The highlight of Camden’s day came in the singles bracket, where seniors McKenzie Allard and Lainie Liberatore battled their way into the semifinal round.

Allard, the third seed, took out Whitesboro’s Catelin Kernan 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16, then dispatched ESM’s Kelly Li in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-3. Her run ended in the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Whitesboro’s Lauren Levatino.

Liberatore, the 20th overall seed, delivered one of the most inspired tournament runs in any division. Starting out of the first round, she defeated Mexico’s Jessica Hill 10-4. In the Round of 16, she defeated New Hartford’s Anna Nigro 6-3, 6-3. The quarter finals also went her way, as she defeated fifth-seeded Lexi DeGroat 6-3, 6-1. Her tournament also ended in the semis with a loss to top-seeded Mona Farah of Jamesville-Dewitt.

By making the semifinals, Allard and Liberatore will compete at the State Qualifier on Tuesday, October 22nd. That will be held at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse.

Hailey Heath also saw some success in singles competition, with a hard-fought 10-8 win over CVA’s Alexia Mizerak in the first round. She lost in the Round of 16 to the top-seeded competitor.

In doubles play, Rylee Greggains and Dolmae Honrales were the standout pairing with a 10-5 victory in the first round over a team from Jamesville-Dewitt. The nineteenth-seeded tandem closed their tournament with a 6-1, 6-0 Round of 16 defeat against eventual finalists Myah Rainbow and Emily French of Oneida.

The twelfth-seeded team of Jane Cookinham and Olivia Wing, and the eighth-seeded team of Abigail Arnold and Alexis Albrecht both fell in their openers against pairings from Whitesboro.

Congratulations to Lainie and McKenzie on moving on to play next week, and to the entire team on a season to be proud of!