PORTLAND

Nick Mathieu has left the court in the Maine Principals Association Schoolboys tennis tournament disappointed the past two seasons.

After falling in the final in his freshman and sophomore campaigns, Mathieu, the top-seed this year, had another chance at redemption, this time facing hard-hitting Dariy Vykhodtsev of Thornton Academy in the final at the Racket and Fitness Center on Monday.

Mathieu was able to celebrate this time, taking a 6- 4, 4-6. 6-2 win and the title, joining former Eagle and Mathieu mentor Mike Hill as Schoolboys champion. Hill won the title from 2007-09.

“ It feels pretty good,” said Mathieu, who had lost the past two finals to Falmouth’s Brendan McCarthy (2014) and Waynflete’s Isaac Salas (2015). “ The final point felt awesome as I was able to go up the line for a winner. That was a great final, one of the best in a while.”

Mathieu, who earlier survived a tough first set against fourth- seeded Michael Mills en route to a 7- 6 ( 5), 6- 1 semifinal win, used his powerful passing shots to finally subdue Vykhodtsev.

“ He is an all- around good player and will always be a threat,” said Mathieu of the Trojans’ top player. “We have played before and we always seem to go three sets. He will win the state tournament and is one of the best players in the state right now.”

Right there every step of the way was Mt. Ararat head coach Don Foley, who slapped the glass in celebration after Mathieu’s final shot ended the near two- hour championship match.

“He puts more time into this than anyone, and it is well invested time. He was real close last year,” said Foley.

Trouble early

Things started poorly for Mathieu on Memorial Day. Facing Mills of Cape Elizabeth, Mathieu was broken in his first service game and trailed 3-0 right out of the gate. Mathieu admitted that he was bothered by Mills’ slow play.

“He had me off my rhythm. I zoned in after the first set and stopped thinking about things, concentrating on my game,” said Mathieu, who began chipping away at his deficit by holding serve and breaking Mills.

Mathieu still trailed 4-2, but rallied to claim a 6-5 lead. Serving for the match, Mathieu was broken for a third time as Mills forced a tiebreaker. But, Mathieu prevailed, 7-5, then rolled in the second set.

Against Vykhodtsev, neither player wasted much time. Vykhodtsev refused to be influenced by Mathieu’s power, often standing inside the baseline on Mathieu’s first serve and attacking with hard ground-strokes and angled shots.

“I tried to do my best to stay in every point. I wanted to just get his serve back in and stay in the point,” said Vykhodtsev. “Today was the highlight for me. I played good, but my opponent played a little bit better.”

“I don’t ever look at the other side of the net, wanting instead to focus on my serve, but his returns often came back pretty fast, so I had to shorten my swing,” said Mathieu.

Tied 4-4 in the opening set, Mathieu took advantage of three double faults by Vykhodtsev to break and served out the set for a 6-4 win.

Both players held serve in the second set through seven games. But, Vykhodtsev broke Mathieu to take a 5-3 lead, then after Mathieu broke back, Vykhodtsev answered for a 6-4 win to even the match at a set apiece.

Mathieu came right back in the deciding set, leading 4-1 and serving out the match at love for the victory and the elusive title.

Vykhodtsev advanced to the title match after second-seeded Ben Forester of Falmouth was forced to retire after a slip and a tumble. Trailing 5-4, Forester limped off the court and shook Vykhodtsev’s hand.

“I felt bad because I know how hard he worked to play this season,” said Vykhodtsev of Forester’s injury.

Next up for Mathieu is the Class A North quarterfinals, with the fifth-seeded Eagles facing No. 4 Mt. Blue on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Farmington.

Girls

In the MPA Schoolgirls semifinals, Rosemary Campanella of Wells advanced to the title match after top-seeded Lana Mavor retired in the first set while trailing 4-0. Mavor bent over at her knees and moved around in obvious discomfort. After a five-minute delay, Mavor shook Campanella’s hand and wished her good luck.

Meanwhile, Falmouth’s Julia Brogan was in a battle with St. Dom’s Bethany Hammond in another semifinal. After rolling to a 6-2 first set win, Brogan struggled in the second as Hammond forced a tiebreaker.

“She changed her strategy in the second set and started going to my backhand more and ran around her forehand, which I wasn’t expecting,” said Brogan of Hammond. “She hit the ball a lot harder in the second set. She is a great player and a fighter. It is tough to come back from 6-2, but she did.”

But, Brogan reeled off seven of the final eight points in the tiebreaker for a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win and a spot in the final.

Against Campanella, Brogan had little trouble, rolling to a 6-1, 6-0 victory to keep the Schoolgirls title at Falmouth after former Yachtsmen Olivia Leavitt won the championship the past three seasons.

“She was in control of the whole match,” said Campanella, who was broken on each of her serves. “My serve is a big advantage in my game and it was not working in my match.”

“It is such a relief,” said Brogan of her win after reaching the semifinals two of the past three seasons. “At the 5-0 changeover in the second set, I told myself ‘just four more points.’ I lost a point at love-40 and just knew that I had to get to that next point.”

Area players

After the qualifying rounds were held May 14, the tournament kicked back up on Friday at the Racquet and Fitness Center.

In the opening round, Freeport’s Nate Smail retired against Mountain Valley’s Francesco Polvara, while Brunswick’s Dasol Kim and JD Souza were victorious. Kim defeated Noah Toussaint of St. Dom’s, 6-0, 6-2, and Souza was a winner over Presque Isle’s Denny Young, 6-3, 6-2.

In the second round on Friday, Mathieu opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Matt Morse of Camden Hills. Morse’s Thomas Jarmusz, the No. 5 seed, and Matthew Jarmusz, the No. 11 seed, were victorious, with Thomas taking a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Kyle Townsend of Hampden Academy, while Matthew defeated Peter Stegemann of Falmouth, 6-2, 7-6 (3). Peter Mao of Mt. Ararat, the No. 10 seed, defeated Brandon Ameglio of Waynflete, 6-4, 6- 0, while Kim and Souza were defeated.

On Saturday at Lewiston High School in the round of 16, Mathieu, Matthew Jarmusz and Mao advanced, while Thomas Jarmusz was defeated by No. 12 Thomas Brent of Gorham, 6-2, 6-3. Later on Saturday in the quarterfinals, Mathieu got by eighth-seeded Alex Klemperer of Falmouth, 6-2, 6-1. Matthew Jarmusz dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Vykhodtsev, while Mao was knocked off by Forester, 6-0, 6-1.

In the girls tournament, Brunswick’s Cassie Ridge advanced to the second round after knocking off Clara Bradley of Bangor, 6-4, 6-2. Ridge fell in the next round to Cape Elizabeth’s Katie Gilman, 6-2, 6-3.

Morse’s top player Arielle Leeman battled through a tough three set match in the opening round, falling to Aubra Linn of Hampden Academy, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5.