Things were looking up for the second-seeded Brunswick High School tennis team after the first match of Saturday’s playoff duel with Class A North rival Lewiston.
Luke Estabrook and Ben Lord cruised to a No. 1 doubles win and the Dragons were on the board first.
Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last long.
“It’s a great team. Great, great group of guys from Lewiston,” Brunswick coach Sewall Janeway said. “I told my team they were great and we had a good time. Their coach, Tom LeBlond, is a real class act, so I wish them the best of the luck.”
It was the third meeting of the year for the two sides, which both closed the regular season with a 9-3 record, and the familiarity was clear from the get-go. Estabrook/Lord lost to Lewiston’s Ben Ferrence and Reid Pomerleau in both of the previous meetings, but on Saturday, the third time was the charm.
The duo rebounded quickly from an early Lewiston break and took a 3-1 lead that quickly turned into six games in a row and the set.
“Both of our serves were super on today,” Estabrook said. “We were getting most of our first serves in.”
“First doubles played the best I’ve seen them play,” Janeway said.
It was 5-0 in the second set before Ferrence/Pomerleau battled back for two straight games, but Estabrook/Lord quickly served out the match in the eighth game, cementing the 6-1, 6-2 win. Janeway said the two peaked at just the right time with their high level of play.
“It’s the perfect time,” Estabrook said of playing their best tennis in the postseason. “We had some struggles — I think we lost two or three in a row earlier in the year. We lost two to the team we just played. Builds up a little rivalry with them.”
“It was great to finish off with this,” Lord said.
The No. 2 doubles match between Lewiston’s Morin and Zashut and Brunswick’s Wyatt Slocum and Jackson Gordon was a true battle in the second set. The Blue Devils comfortably took the first set 6-2, but found themselves down 4-1 in the second after two straight breaks from the Dragons. In unlikely fashion, Morin/Zashut beared down and won five straight games to clinch the match.
“Really proud of our guys today,” LeBlond said. “Especially our second doubles. They lost last time to Brunswick pretty handily, and they came back. Also coming back in the second set, being down 4-1, and just powering through. It was a good effort.”
“Second doubles never really found their groove, but I kind of thought they’d win that second set and take it to a third set,” Janeway said.
Singles control
Brunswick No. 1 singles player Dasol Kim, who knocked of Ouellette the last time they played, grabbed an early break and took a 3-2 advantage in the first set. Ouellette responded with a break of his own and eventually earned the opportunity to serve out the set at 5-4, which he promptly capitalized on.
“They’ve had quite a rivalry this year,” Janeway said of Kim and Ouellette. “They split matches the first two times we’ve met and Cole out-powered him. Cole’s a very good player all-around — he’s good on his feet, he’s got great shot selection, and he just took care of him in that second set.”
“I knew if I could close it out, it’d give me more leeway in the second set,” Ouellette said. “I could go for more first serves, have a little bit more leeway with my shots.”
The long rallies and back-and-forth service games died down in the second set, where Ouellette quickly erased an early Kim break with three of his own to cruise to a 6-4, 6-1 win.
“I tried to get a good first return and then come to the net,” Ouellette said. “He (Kim) made a lot of good passing shots, but I had to test his forehand.”
“Cole (Ouellette) played really well,” LeBlond said. “When he’s moving well, he plays really well. He needs to get into a rhythm and he really did. Cole’s a real smart player.”
Teckenberg gave JD Souza fits in the No. 2 singles match, rolling to a pair of 6-1 sets. The Blue Devils’ No. 2 set the tone with two breaks of Souza in his first service game and controlled the tempo from there. Teckenberg, who LeBlond said is “very even” with Ouellette at No. 1, earned his third singles win of the season against Brunswick.
Eric Hall edged out Brunswick’s No. 3 Lincoln Sullivan in a tight first set, and the two picked up where they left off in the second. Sullivan, who earned two breaks in the opening set, was on serve when he retired.
Lewiston will take on No. 4 Mt. Blue in the Class A North Regional final at the University of Maine on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The Cougars upset top-seeded Hampden Academy, 3-2, on Saturday.
No. 3 Lewiston 4,
No. 2 Brunswick 1
Class A North Boys Semifinal
Saturday, at Brunswick High School
Cole Ouellette (L) over Dasol Kim, 6-
4, 6-1.
Timo Teckenberg (L) over JD Souza,
6-1, 6-1.
Eric Hall (L) over Lincoln Sullivan, 6-
4, 3-2 (retired).
Luke Estabrook and Ben Lord (B)
over Ben Ferrence and Reid Pomerleau, 6-1, 6-2.
Kyle Morin and Sam Zashut (L) over
Wyatt Slocum and Jackson Gordon,
6-2, 6-4.
Records — Lewiston 11-3,
Brunswick 10-4.
Note — Brunswick’s season is completed.
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