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Court Brilliance

Frewsburg’s Sposato Claims Singles Title In Straight Sets

Above are the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association tennis players who have earned berths in next week’s Section VI championships. Kneeling are the singles qualifiers. From the left are Eston Shedd of Southwestern; Jameson Sposato of Frewsburg; Mark Brown of Olean; and Neil Gens of Fredonia. Standing are the doubles teams. From the left are Dan Gifford and Jimmy Rush of Fredonia; Max Kinkela and Caleb Reynolds of Fredonia; Carson Heimburg and Elliott Jackson of Panama; and Filip Morawski and Thomas Bates of Olean. P-J photo by Valory S. Isaacson

LAKEWOOD — In 2017, Frewsburg’s Jameson Sposato finished in third place at the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Tennis Singles Championships.

In 2018, Sposato took second as a sophomore, suffering a 6-4, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Fredonia’s Neil Gens.

On Thursday afternoon, that loss was repaid by Frewsburg’s No. 1 singles player, as Sposato claimed a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gens to earn his first county title.

Having only played Gens once previously in their finals meeting a year ago, Sposato entered Thursday’s match with a strategy on how to come away with a win.

“He played really well and I missed a lot of shots,” Sposato said of their first meeting in 2018. “I was going to come in attacking the ball, not really worrying about mistakes and just going for things. I tried to move him around and get as many opportunities as I could to finish off points.”

The rematch was set after Gens dispatched of Eston Shedd of Southwestern, 6-0, 6-1, in semifinal action while Sposato moved to a perfect 15-0 on the year with 6-4, 6-2 win over Mark Brown of Olean.

During the early going of the first set, neither Gens nor Sposato were able to hold serve, with breaks coming from both sides.

“I think the biggest difference was today Jameson was able to finish off points,” said Frewsburg coach and Jameson’s father Jamie Sposato. “Last year Neil seemed to be able to counter-attack more. He gets to everything he can. He is an amazing player that way. I thought (Jameson’s) all-around game was great. He took advantage of opportunities and was able to get some nice power on the ball and just be very offensive.”

Sposato eventually sealed his first set victory with, fittingly, another break at 5-4, before settling into his own serve in the second frame.

“I felt much more comfortable with shots and serves in the second set,” Sposato said.

The offensive opportunities that the junior made the most of down the stretch included forehand winners and overheads at the net after forcing Gens on the defensive.

After achieving one of his goals on Thursday, Sposato will now prepare to take the next step as he enters the Section VI Championships at Orchard Park on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

“Our goal was kind of wanting to win in the first round and get through that, and you never know. He had a close match in the first round last year,” said Jamie Sposato.

Filip Morawski and Thomas Bates of Olean finished the day as the CCAA doubles champions.

The pair were 6-0, 6-2 winners over Max Kinkela and Caleb Reynolds of Fredonia after topping Carson Heimburg and Elliot Jackson of Panama, 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals.

Morawski and Bates have repeated after topping Kinkela and Rush, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 one year prior at SUNY Fredonia.

Kinkela and Reynolds advanced to the 2019 finals after moving past teammates Dan Gifford and Jimmy Rush, 6-1, 7-6.

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