SECTION IV GIRLS TENNIS: OWEGO RETAINS CLASS B DOUBLES TITLE WITH NEW DUO (18 PHOTOS) (2019-10-18)

Tioga County Sports Report
APALACHIN — Last year, Lauren Angelone and Kayla Hankey brought Owego a Section IV Class B girls doubles championship. This year, it was up to Rachel Raftis and Larissa Fisher to defend the title. The duo was successful, winning all three matches to claim top honors in the doubles tournament at Tioga Hills Elementary School here Friday.

Grace Riddleberger added a fourth-place finish in the the singles tournament and the Indians would finish the day as the team runner-up to powerhouse Vestal.

Raftis and Fisher, the Indians' first and third singles players, respectively, defeated Vestal's second doubles team of Rachel Rabkin and Emma Caffrey, then downed Norwich's top pair, Natalie Benenati and Emma Brooks. 

In the finals, Fisher and Raftis upset the Vestal first doubles tandem of Catherine Hampp and Maya Schipplick.

Riddleberger, the Indians' second singles player for all but one match during the regular season, received a first-round bye, then knocked off M-E's Elise Westcott. In the semifinals, she fell to Vestal standout Angelique deRouen, the eventual champ. 

In the third-place match, Riddleberger lost to M-E's Hannah Green.

Rachael Wood made an impressive showing for Owego as well, giving Green all she could handle in a second-round singles match.

The Indians second doubles pairing of Julie Selover and Julianna Hessberger played well also in a three-set loss to Johnson City's Maia Tripp and Selena Kasmarcik.

Vestal would claim the team championship with 46 points. Owego was second with 29, followed by Norwich with 16.

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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Rachel Raftis (L) and Larissa Fisher. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.