Despite trailing Chautauqua Lake’s Emily Bauer early, the Hillbillies junior powered through to win a first-set tiebreaker in her semifinal match before rolling to her second straight Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association singles title.

“I’m really excited for sectionals just to improve and to get better,” said Gens, who finished fourth at the 2018 Section VI Championships. “My goal is states this year. I feel like I’ve improved a lot. I trained a lot over the summer and throughout the year.”

Southwestern’s Hiba Munir and Elizabeth Kane showed equally impressive resiliency in their doubles final against Falconer’s Macy Youngberg and Nicole Youngberg, trailing 4-3 in the first set and 5-4 in the second set before rallying both times to claim the championship.

“It sounds pretty cool to me,” Kane said when asked how it felt to be a county champion. “When the season ended, we realized we had to play doubles together because we had a better shot as doubles partners.”

Fredonia's Bernie Gens lines up a backhand.

“I’ve come to counties since seventh grade,” Munir added. ” … To play with (Kane), we’ve been playing together since we were like 7 years old and it’s amazing.”

The Gens-Bauer first set was the highlight of the day.

The Thunderbirds junior jumped out to a 2-0 lead and had a break point on Gens’ serve for a possible 3-0 lead, but the 2018 champion dug deep for a pair of forehand winners to get back in the set.

After Gens won three straight games to go up 3-2, Bauer evened the set. Gens then double-faulted on a serve and went to a second serve on her next opportunity, but eventually won the game on a Bauer error to take a 4-3 lead.

Chautauqua Lake’s top singles player then won two straight games to take a 5-4 lead, but Gens answered with two straight to make it 6-5. Bauer forced the tiebreaker with a shot into the deep corner and the players traded points through 3-3 in the tiebreaker before Gens finished the set with four straight points.

Chautauqua Lake's Emily Bauer volley's with Fredonia's Bernie Gens in semifinal singles action.

“I felt like we had the upper hand in that first set. Some different things happened toward the end of that set and it swung the other way,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Sue Teets said. “I’m proud of Emily. … She took Gens out of her game plan and was able to maintain that for a little bit. It’s hard to maintain a different style of tennis when you’re not used to playing it.”

From there, Gens coasted to a 6-0 victory in the second set and beat her teammate Alicia Kluck 6-2, 6-1 in the final for the CCAA’s top seed at sectionals, which will take place Oct. 25-26 at the Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville.

“It’s a hard thing to do playing your own teammate,” Fredonia head coach Lisa Johnston said of the Gens-Kluck final. “That was the goal for both of them to make the finals.”

Munir and Kane earned the doubles crown after a thrilling final against the Youngberg sisters.

In the first set, the Trojans took a 2-0 lead before the Golden Falcons rallied to claim three straight games. The teams then alternated the next two games and Falconer led 4-3, but Southwestern won the final three games of the set for a 6-4 victory.

Southwestern's Hiba Munir hits a serve.

“We tried to focus on the shot more than the point,” Kane said. “Then we just kept adding up the points.”

In the second set, the Youngbergs again jumped out to 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads before Munir and Kane won two straight games for a 4-3 lead. The Golden Falcons then won the next two games for a 5-4 lead, but were unable to finish the set as the Trojans won the final three games for a 7-5 victory.

“I’m not going to take anything away from Hiba and Liz. They played phenomenal and controlled the net. She who controls the net controls the game,” Falconer head coach Jamie Glatz said. “They came up big in the big points. We had opportunities and did not close the door.”

Bauer won the singles consolation match 6-3, 6-4 over Maple Grove’s Jenna Hayes to earn the CCAA No. 3 seed at sectionals.

“She’s got a lot of what she needs, it’s just confidence in doing it,” Teets said. “As Emily progresses … she needs to work on some of her down-the-line shots and being confident in her first serve.”

Southwestern's Elizabeth Kane lines up a forehand.

Frewsburg’s Elise Sposato and Anjolie Sanfilippo put together an impressive showing in the doubles consolation match against Olean’s Mackenzie Windus and Brookelinn Garey. After losing the first set 6-2, the Bears fought back for a 6-3 second-set victory before a strong 6-2 win in the third-and-deciding set.

“I knew the momentum was going to get going for them today,” Frewsburg head coach Jamie Sposato said. “Sometimes we start a little slow, but I’m so proud of them. I think they just played some better tennis and were a little bit more consistent. They took advantage of balls they could just put away.”

Now the four singles players and four doubles pairings will take part in the sectional tournament where the top three finishers advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships set for Nov. 2-3 at Tri-City Fitness in Latham.

“We want to go up to Buffalo and show them that the tennis is for real in the Southern Tier, not just up in the Buffalo area,” Glatz said. “We moved up the CCAA Tournament to this week to have more time to heal and formulate a game plan.”

NOTES: Kluck advanced to the singles final by beating Hayes 6-2, 6-3 in the other singles semifinal. … Munir and Kane topped Sposato and Sanfilippo 6-2, 6-1 while the Youngbergs beat Windus and Garey 6-2, 6-3.

Falconer’s Nicole Youngberg prepares to return a forehand volley during the doubles final.

SINGLES

FINAL

Bernie Gens (Fred) d. Alicia Kluck (Fred) 6-2, 6-1

CONSOLATION

Emily Bauer (CL) d. Jenna Hayes (MG) 6-3, 6-4

SEMIFINALS

Gens (Fred) d. Bauer (CL) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0; Kluck (Fred) d. Hayes (MG) 6-2, 6-3

DOUBLES

FINAL

Hiba Munir and Elizabeth Kane (S) d. Macy Youngberg and Nicole Youngberg (Fa) 6-4, 7-5

CONSOLATION

Elise Sposato and Anjolie Sanfilippo (Frew) d. Mackenzie Windus and Brookelinn Garey (O) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

SEMIFINALS

Munir-Kane (S) d. Sposato-Sanfilippo (Frew) 6-2, 6-1; Youngberg-Youngberg (Fa) d. Windus-Garey (O) 6-0, 6-3