This tournament is the end of the road for all of the girls tennis teams in Section VII. It’s the only section to play girls tennis in the spring rather than the fall, when the state individual and team championship tournaments are held.

Lake Placid No. 1 singles player Raquel Arreaza had the best results that day. She made it out of the tournament’s first round in convincing fashion with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Beekmantown’s Ava Whitman. Arreaza fell to eventual tournament semifinalist, Plattsburgh’s Julia Luck, who prevailed 6-1, 6-0 in the next round.

Lake Placid’s Fiona Sullivan was the only other Blue Bomber in the singles draw, which featured 24 players from the nine conference schools. Sullivan was defeated in her first round match by AuSable Valley’s Ava Belzile, who won 6-4, 6-2.

None of Lake Placid’s three doubles teams emerged from the first round in a packed draw featuring 31 teams. The Blue Bombers’ Avory Lamoy and Alida Carlson fell to Northern Adirondack’s Bella Labombard and Kinsley Trombley 6-1, 6-1. Lake Placid’s Yesleidys Alvarez Chico and Laura Guerrero lost to Plattsburgh’s Aubree Mulligan and Ava Weiss 6-0, 6-0. The closest scoreline came from the Blue Bombers’ Sophie Spanburgh and Zoe Carpenter, who were defeated by Peru’s Brooke Taptick and Josephine Sabella 6-4, 6-3.

Lake Placid girls tennis senior player Jennifer Giroux follows through on a backhand during senior night at the Lake Placid tennis courts on Wednesday, May 28. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

The Beekmantown Eagles swept the singles and doubles sectional tournaments. The team closed out the year with an undefeated 12-0 record.

In the singles final, Beekmantown’s Olivia Hagadorn defeated Plattsburgh’s Perry 6-0, 6-1. Underlining the team’s strength, it was an Eagles on Eagles doubles finale, with Carly Hagadorn and Sophie Miller beating their teammates Julia and Lucy Conroy 6-3, 6-2.

It wasn’t the season that the Blue Bombers had hoped for. The team lost all of its dual meets during the regular season, but on senior night, coach Jon Fremante was focused on the future. He hopes his graduating seniors continue playing and enjoying tennis. Carpenter, Carlson and Jennifer Giroux were all recognized with flowers and speeches for their contributions to the team over the years.

Fremante thanked Carpenter for picking up tennis this year, noting that she learned quickly for her first real experience with the sport. He quipped that Carpenter, who is also this year’s Saranac Lake salutatorian, will have a lot more opportunities at Purdue University, where she will be attending college next year, to play tennis than to go skiing, her main sport.

“Just guessing from where Purdue is,” he said.

Carlson has been with the team for two years. Fremante said her game has improved “tremendously” during her time with the team. He added that one of her greatest strengths on court is her footwork.

“She never stands still for more than a millisecond,” Fremante said. “When we’re playing tennis, one of the biggest things that helps Alida is that she doesn’t stand still. She’s constantly moving all around the court.”

Fremante then turned to Giroux, who had been on the team since her freshman year. He joked that at times, she was “too nice” to her opponents on court.

“Jen, through her family, practices and takes lessons a lot and has great form and skill,” he said. “She is probably the nicest person on the court — to the point where it hurts watching sometimes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a player as happy as Jen was on the court,” he said. “It’s just been fun to have her for years. … I’ll miss you next year having a solid person to just put into any spot in a match.”