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State high school tennis championships settled Saturday
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Class A tennis: Falmouth boys and girls sweep state titles
The girls win their eighth straight title and 13th overall, and the boys repeat with a win over Mt. Ararat.LEWISTON — Olivia Leavitt finished off the point with yet another unreturnable forehand.
“Oh my gosh,” said Lewiston girls’ tennis coach Anita Murphy, watching from behind a courtside fence. “No stopping that.”
Indeed, Leavitt and her Falmouth High teammates again proved unstoppable Saturday at Lewiston High, shutting out Lewiston for an eighth consecutive state title and 13th in school history, matching Cape Elizabeth for the most in Maine and bumping Lewiston to third on the all-time list with 12.
“It’s bittersweet,” Leavitt said after being surrounded by the rest of the Falmouth girls to celebrate their 5-0 victory. “It’s a great feeling to finish the season like we did but it’s also sad that I’m not going to come back and play anymore.”
The Falmouth boys also won a Class A title in dominant fashion, beating Mt. Ararat 4-1 with straight-set victories in everything but No. 1 singles, where Eagles sophomore Nick Mathieu – a two-time runner-up in the state singles tournament – held off a spirited challenge from Falmouth senior Aidan McGrory 7-6 (1), 7-5 in the best individual match of the day.
The Mathieu-McGrory affair was still in its first set when everyone else in Class A had finished playing. Falmouth freshman Alex Klemperer and sophomore Peter Stegemann dropped only three and four games, respectively, in winning second and third singles against, respectively, Mt. Ararat freshman Peter Mao and senior Trevor Mayo.
In doubles, Falmouth sophomores Jordan Bruce and Trey Fallon dropped only four games at No. 1 against Mt. Ararat seniors Mike Crawford and Jon Roux. At No. 2, Falmouth sophomore Grayson Cohen and freshman Matt Adamowicz won 6-1, 6-1 over junior Joey Reed and Brazilian exchange student Leonardo Paz Medeiros of Mt. Ararat.
The same two teams met in the boys’ state final last year with Falmouth winning, 3-2. Only McGrory and Fallon returned from that starting seven.
The Falmouth girls, meanwhile, returned six of their top seven and finished with another 16-0 season, extending their winning streak to 125 matches.
Leavitt, the three-time singles state champion, won her match against Lewiston junior Maddi Roy without dropping a game. Juniors Julia Brogan and Carolina Ray won at second and third singles by identical scores of 6-1, 6-1.
Sophomores Kate Kelley and Amanda Watson did likewise at first doubles. Senior Meg Pierce and sophomore Mary Hyland won 6-3, 6-3 at second doubles.
“They had a different game style than we’re accustomed to in Western Maine, which is more of a flat topspin,” Brogan said. “These girls do a lot of lobbing. We had to get used to that.”
The victory marked the end of a 13-year coaching career for Sandra Stone, who departs with 10 state titles and an overall mark of 187-14.
“We especially wanted to get the match for her,” said Brogan, who led an effort to have all the girls wear blue-and-white tie-dyed socks along with a long royal blue wristband.
“We all want her to remember this.”
Leavitt, who plans to continue her career at Brandeis, and Pierce are the only seniors. Assistant coach Bill Goodspeed will take over the program from Stone.
“I prepared the girls mentally for this match,” said Murphy, who led Lewiston to all 12 of its state titles. “We knew what we were up against. Their goal was to stay on the court as long as they could.”
“This was a team that was coming in undefeated,” Falmouth’s Ray said of Lewiston (15-1). “We all knew we would have to play our best tennis. We definitely had some nerves. I don’t think it was easy.”
It only seemed that way.
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Class B tennis: Cape Elizabeth boys and Greely girls repeat
The Capers get a 16th state title and Greely wins its second straight.LEWISTON — At the beginning of the season, Cape Elizabeth boys’ tennis coach Andy Strout pointed out to his team that three schools each had won 15 state titles: South Portland, Lewiston and Cape Elizabeth.
He didn’t mention it again.
“It was definitely in the back of my mind but not something we talked about,” said Cape Elizabeth senior Luke Gilman. “It felt great to get him this one.”
Gilman led a singles sweep Saturday at Lewiston High as Cape Elizabeth turned aside a challenge from Camden Hills 4-1 for a third straight Class B state championship.
In the girls’ Class B final, Greely also repeated as champion with a 5-0 shutout of Mt. Desert Island.
Cape Elizabeth (13-3) and Camden Hills (14-2) met a year ago with the Capers easily sweeping singles and barely winning doubles.
Although many of the characters were different Saturday, the plot remained similar.
Gilman won quickly at No. 2 singles, dropping only one game. Ethan Murphy had more trouble at No. 3 before prevailing 6-3, 6-4 over Matt Morse of Camden Hills.
That allowed Michael Mills to clinch at No. 1 by reeling off 12 straight games after falling behind 2-0 to Austin Pohlman, a left-hander.
“I attribute it,” Pohlman said to Mills after shaking hands, “to you warming up and starting to crush the balls back.”
Mills played doubles on Cape Elizabeth’s 2013 championship team but opted for USTA tennis last spring to focus on his New England ranking. Did he miss the team atmosphere?
“A lot,” he said after high-fiving teammates after his match.
“It’s a great feeling to have the support from all my friends.”
When Mills trailed 2-0 at the start, both doubles matches were headed to a third set and Murphy had his hands full with Morse, a case of “an athlete against a younger kid,” Strout said.
“I knew my match was going to be crucial,” Murphy said. “His first serve, when it went in, he almost always won the point. So it was key that I took advantage of his second serve.”
Morse fought off one match point but Murphy converted the second to give Cape Elizabeth a 2-0 lead and set the stage for Mills.
The doubles matches were highly competitive, with Conner Sullivan and Jimmy Salerno of Cape Elizabeth shrugging off an inglorious tiebreak to win 6-7 (0), 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2.
On an adjacent court, Jared Garske and Colby Arau of Camden Hills rallied to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 1.
“We just dug deep,” Salerno said. “This was Conner’s senior year and it meant so much to him. Although it wasn’t a critical point to the overall outcome, it was a critical point to us.”
In the girls’ match, Greely won easily at first doubles with Mia Lambert and Jessie Hoffman (6-2, 6-0,) but struggled to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 with Sam Kennedy and Madelyn Day at second doubles.
“We knew we had a title to defend,” Hoffman said. “We had that in our minds rather than cockiness.”
In singles, freshman Izzy Evans clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1, Kathryn Pare won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 and Alex Tebbs outlasted Maeve Geary of MDI 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3.
“I was letting her run me, letting her call the shots,” Tebbs said. “I decided to be more aggressive and take more risks, especially with my dropshots, and it paid off.”
The title is the second straight for Greely (14-2).
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Class C tennis: Waynflete boys, North Yarmouth Academy girls prevail
The championships give the West a sweep of the six state titles.Isaac Salas celebrates with his Waynflete teammates after the Flyers beat George Stevens Academy 4-1 Saturday at Lewiston High School to win their eighth consecutive Class C boys’ tennis state championship.LEWISTON — The message came late Friday, after Waynflete boys’ tennis coach Jeff Madore had finished his final practice of the season.
George Stevens Academy, the Eastern Maine champion from Blue Hill, would like to start earlier than scheduled because of a Saturday night banquet honoring seniors in advance of graduation ceremonies.
The Flyers were more than happy to comply, and made sure not to linger on court any longer than necessary.
“We knew that if we play well, we should win,” said Isaac Salas, the state singles champion who led a singles sweep Saturday in Waynflete’s 4-1 victory against George Stevens at Lewiston High.
The Class C state title was the eighth straight for Waynflete (15-1), which also defeated the Class A and B state champions (Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth) in the regular season.
Later in the day, the North Yarmouth Academy girls completed a second straight Western Maine sweep of the six tennis state titles by beating Van Buren 5-0, winning eight of the 10 sets by shutout.
“It’s hard to compete with this,” said Courtney Parent of Van Buren after losing 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to Lena Rich of NYA.
“I mean, they’re crazy good on this side. Our closest indoor court is half an hour away (in Madawaska), and all the girls on our team also play soccer and basketball.”
Mina Stam and Mary Morrison also won at singles for NYA, dropping only three games between them. Hannah Chapman and Corinne Poitras won by shutout at first doubles, and Livy Stam and Hannah Hungerford did the same at second doubles.
NYA last reached the state final in 2010, which marked the end of a four-year reign.
No Eastern Maine team ever has won the Class C girls’ title.
“It’s never good to assume too much,” Rich said, “but as a team we were pretty confident going in.”
In addition to Salas, who won the final 11 games of his match after being broken on his first serve, Clancy Mitchell won by shutout at No. 3 singles and Brandon Ameglio won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2.
“We tried to get it done not as quickly as possible,” Mitchell said, “but as efficiently as possible.”
The teams split doubles, with Jake Soley and Jacob Greene of Waynflete winning 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2, and Peter Michalakes and Stephen Epstein falling to Tim Dentino and Matt Stephens of George Stevens 0-6, 7-5, 10-6 in a tiebreak used because the overall outcome had been decided.
“I’ve played with a different partner every year at the state championships,” Soley said, “and the two guys from George Stevens were new, so it definitely mixes things up and keeps it interesting. That was fun.”
George Stevens lost in the final to Waynflete for the sixth straight year.
“I’d choose somebody else if they gave me a choice but they don’t,” said George Stevens Coach Larry Gray. “No, I’m just kidding. It’s an honor. They’re a great program.”
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