Yarmouth sophomore Lana Mavor showed her dominance and Mt. Ararat senior Nick Mathieu showed his resilience Monday afternoon as the two top seeds in the Maine Principals’ Association singles tennis tournaments won titles in distinctly different fashions.

Mavor rolled over No. 2 Rosemary Campanella, a Wells junior, 6-1, 6-1 in a match that lasted 49 minutes. Mathieu, the defending champion, needed 2 hours and 20 minutes to finally get past Falmouth sophomore Nick Forester, the third seed, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a match filled with drama, muscle cramps and roller bars.

Nick Mathieu of Mt. Ararat celebrates after he defeated Falmouth's Nick Forester in three sets Monday to win his second straight singles state championships. Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

“There was definitely some heat there and lots of emotion,” said Mathieu, who won the last three games and fell to his knees after blasting an inside-out forehand winner on his second match point. “You could feel the tension for sure.”

The matches, originally scheduled outdoors at Bates College in Lewiston but moved inside to the Racket & Fitness Center in Portland for the fourth time in five years because of a rainy forecast, capped three days of action that began Friday in Portland with 48 boys and 48 girls and continued Saturday at Colby College in Waterville.

In Monday morning’s semifinals, Mavor beat No. 5 Grace Campanella, a Kennebunk freshman and younger sister of Rosemary, 6-1, 6-1, and Rosemary Campanella defeated No. 3 Bethany Hammond of St. Dominic, 6-1, 6-2.

Last spring, Rosemary Campanella reached the final after Mavor withdrew from their semifinal because of a strained back that grew progressively worse through the tournament.

Mavor opened Monday’s final by breaking Campanella’s serve at love. Campanella got one break point against Mavor, in the final game.

“Lana’s just a very good player,” Campanella said. “Any opportunity you give her, she’s going to take it. To win one point, I had to work very, very hard.”

Mavor won five matches with a combined score in games of 60-6. Her only nervous moment Monday may have been when a stray Campanella lob soared over protective netting and struck Mavor’s seated grandmother on the arm.

“That was a weird point,” Mavor said with a smile. “I don’t usually get that concerned. I’m pretty confident.”

Mavor admitted she occasionally peeked over at the adjacent court to watch Forester and Mathieu slug it out in the boys’ final. Like Mavor, Forester reached last year’s semifinals, only to withdraw because of an injury, torn ligaments in his knee after stepping on a stray ball.

An ambidextrous player who hits forehands from either wing, the naturally left-handed Forester opened and closed the first set by breaking Mathieu’s serve.

“For his first final, he came out swinging,” Mathieu said. “I couldn’t really keep up with him. I was very surprised and it was very impressive to have no nerves.”

The second set stayed on serve until Mathieu broke Forester at love for a 4-3 lead and fended off three break points to make it 5-3. Trailing love-40 in the 10th game, Mathieu again rallied and held serve to win 6-4 and force a third set.

In three previous trips to the final, Mathieu lost to seniors Brendan McCarthy of Falmouth and Isaac Salas of Waynflete before beating Thornton Academy freshman Dariy Vykhodtsev in three sets.

In Monday’s third set, Mathieu jumped ahead 3-1. Forester held and broke at love to tie. A lengthy seventh game turned for Mathieu on his fourth break point, giving the senior a 4-3 lead. Forester limped into the changeover and used his five-minute medical break to ingest fluids and work a roller bar over his cramping thighs and calves.

“It was painful,” he said. “I don’t think I could have made it without the (vocal) support of my teammates. They kept me going.”

When play resumed, Mathieu had his own issues with a cramping right hand that he tried to shake open.

“Sometimes when I have a long match, my hand starts to claw up,” Mathieu said. “I lose power. But if I squeeze really hard, it usually goes away.”

Forester broke back and held serve for a 5-4 lead, but Mathieu did likewise to stay alive and broke Forester on the 10th point of the next game. Two service winners helped him to a 40-0 lead before he converted his second match point on a forehand to Forester’s left.

After dropping to his knees and elbows, Mathieu arose, took a few steps and spiked the white hat he wore backwards and then the spare ball from his pocket before shaking hands with Forester.

“It was a fun match,” said Forester, slumped in a courtside chair, still grimacing in pain.

The surprise of the boys’ tournament was unseeded Brandon Ameglio, a Waynflete senior who knocked off No. 4 Alex Klemperer of Falmouth and No. 5 Thomas Jarmusz of Morse in straight sets Saturday.

On Monday morning, Ameglio lost 6-0, 6-0 to the hard-hitting Mathieu, and Forester rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat Vykhodtsev, seeded second, 6-3, 6-4.

Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or:

Gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

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