Boys' Tennis

Norwich 4, Maine-Endwell 3

NORWICH – In its third STAC playoff meeting with Maine-Endwell over the past several seasons, Norwich grabbed the rubber match and advanced to today's league championship edging the Spartans Friday afternoon at Norwich High School.

Colin Stewart and Matt Craig earned straight sets victories at second and third singles; however, the Tornado needed to work a bit harder for their other two team points.

Alec Weaver and Brendon Budd overcame a first-set loss to edge the Spartans' Griffin Goosman and Ryan Moses, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 at first doubles. Zan Stewart, who coasted to a first-set victory, struggled in the second set before regrouping to win the third. Stewart defeated Freddy Purpora, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

"In the end, it came down to their senior guys against our senior guys, and our senior guys were better today," said Norwich coach John Stewart. "I don't want to diminish our other guys because they played really hard today. They just don't have the same big match experience."

It was Norwich's 15th match of the season, Stewart said, the most of any team in the conference this season. That extensive match experience may have been the difference, the NHS coach said. "We play as many matches as we can, and the goal was to reach the STAC finals," Stewart said. "And we met our goal."

Ithaca hosts Norwich (14-1) today. The two teams met earlier this season with the Little Red handing NHS its only loss.

Results