Liverpool’s girls tennis team did make it out of the first round of the Section III Class A playoffs – but Cicero-North Syracuse did not, preventing a showdown between the two rivals in the semifinals. And the Warriors didn’t stop there, eventually making it to Monday’s championship match against top seed Fayetteville-Manlius at Utica Parkway Courts after weather interrupted the tournament for a couple of days. In last Tuesday’s quarterfinal round, Liverpool, the no. 2 seed, blanked no. 7 seed Fulton 7-0, but the no. 3 seed Northstars could not get past Auburn in a 5-2 defeat. The Fulton match featured several long battles, all of which Liverpool would win. Sarah O’Hara overcame a terrible first set to beat Heidi Dierbrauerer 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Erna Abaczic also rallied to beat Faith Montgomery 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 6-3. And in doubles, Madeline Cass and Kerry McSweeney fought for a 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2 win over Rachel Guernsey and Kali Kearns. Elsewhere, Kristina Monakhova routed Olivia Knierman 6-1, 6-1. Nicolette Hamilton and Laura Gardner also had a 6-1, 6-1 win over Emily Arduini and Darci Sorbello. Megan Falzone and Melissa Inch beat Gwen Gibson and Abbey Mirabito 6-4, 6-1, with Holly Glor and Samantha Thayer topping Dallaslyn Lamb and Morgan Parkhurst by those exact same scores. CNS had its chance to meet Liverpool, but Auburn got in the way, especially in singles, where Brianna Almeida, Theadosha Miller and Kavita Suryadevara all took losses. Suryadevara fell in three sets to Lauren Husby 6-7 (7-1), 4-6, 6-2. Partial recovery was made in doubles, where Alaina Henson and Kelsey Wilson beat Aiswarya Irri and Kayla Schoonmaker 7-5, 6-1. Also, Cari McKenzie and Kaitlin Tucker earned a 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3 win over Amber Kukiela and Rachel Peters. Jessica Geary and Katie O’Leary led early in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Molly Brown and Jenna Bruno. So Auburn now faced Liverpool in the Class A semifinals, pushed back to Saturday by rain. But the wait did not discourage the Warriors, who went out and beat the Maroons 5-2 to earn its shot at the title. Though O’Hara lost to Claire Minnoe 6-0, 6-0, Liverpool snagged the other two singles points when Monakhova beat Husby 6-0, 6-3 and Wallace tore past VanBuskirk 6-0, 6-1. Liverpool would also go 3-1 in doubles, which included Falzone and Glor coming from behind to beat Kukiela and Peters 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Gardiner and Hamilton earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over Auriana Dechick and Erica Fedigan. Inch and Marla Chayban lost in straight sets.