BRUNSWICK — They trailed by three games in each of their sets, but Katharine Kunhardt and Sabina Smith of Brunswick remained confident.
That they were the only members of their team still on court, and that the outcome of the Class A North girls’ tennis championship rested on their rackets, did not seem to faze them.
“It was such a big match, which really stressed us out,” Kunhardt admitted. “Mostly we just dug deep and said, ‘We’ve got this,’ because we had beaten them twice before (in the regular season). So we were like, ‘We can do it.’ ”
Indeed, the two seniors swept the final five points of a tiebreaker Tuesday to beat Lewiston freshmen Molly Chicoine and Roslyn Wailus 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), and clinch the regional title 3-2 over the top-seeded Blue Devils.
In the Class A North boys’ final, No. 2 Lewiston avenged a pair of regular-season losses by beating No. 1 Brunswick 3-2 when Caden Smith pulled out a 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 victory at third singles over Luke Estabrook of Brunswick.
In Class B North, the Caribou girls and Camden Hills boys – both seeded No. 2 – earned 4-1 victories over the No. 1 Camden Hills girls and No. 4 Waterville boys, respectively.
Originally scheduled for Colby College in Waterville, the Class A and B regional finals were moved inside to Maine Pines Racquet & Fitness because of rain instead of being pushed back a day to remain outside, as was the hope of Lewiston Coach Anita Murphy.
“It does seem a little unfair,” said Brunswick senior Kira Wolpow of the third-seeded Dragons (13-2) playing on courts where they regularly train. “As long as it’s a tennis court, I feel like it doesn’t really matter where it us. But a lot of people on the team love being here and I definitely feel a lot more comfortable here. We’re here so much.”
Lewiston (13-2) split with Brunswick in the regular season, losing 3-2 and winning 4-1 on consecutive days in May. Neither match included Wolpow, a quarterfinalist in the singles tournament who was playing flute at a three-day all-state music festival.
“Every year I’ve missed one tennis match for that weekend,” Wolpow said. “It’s a really important commitment.”
This rainy spring, because of postponements, Brunswick wound up playing four matches during her three-day absence. The Dragons went 2-2 without their best player.
On Tuesday, Wolpow won 6-2, 6-4 at first singles. Lewiston won at second singles (Lizzy Michaud over Anna Parker 6-1, 6-3) and second doubles (Zahara Shidad and Maddy Foster by 6-1, 6-1 over Aidan Sachs and Rae Bamberger) for a 2-1 advantage.
Cassie Ridge of Brunswick tied the match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory at third singles, and left Brunswick’s seniors and Lewiston’s freshmen to decide the outcome at first doubles.
Although Lewiston opened leads of 3-0 in the first and 4-1 in the second, Brunswick rallied to win both sets.
“The difference, really, was that we had two seniors on the court in the last match and they had two freshmen,” Brunswick Coach Rob Manter said.
“Their freshmen handled themselves very well, I thought, but that made just enough of a difference for us to get over the hump.”
In the Class A boys’ match, Lewiston won with seniors at first singles (Cole Ouellette) and first doubles (Asier Garcinuno and Ben Ferrence), both by scores of 6-3, 6-1.
Brunswick won with senior Lincoln Sullivan at second singles (6-3, 6-4), and junior Wyatt Slocum and senior Manuel Asens (4-6, 6-3, 6-2).
That left Smith and Estabrook in a third set at third singles to decide the title.
“It was actually a really good feeling” to be the center of attention, said Smith, who won the final three games of the match. “I saw a lot of friends who came here from Lewiston to cheer for us.”
Brunswick finished 13-1. Lewiston (13-2) advanced to Saturday’s state final against Falmouth or Thornton Academy.
In the Class C North final, held indoors in Bangor, George Stevens Academy swept past the Orono girls and Washington Academy boys.
All six South finals are scheduled for Thursday at Bates College in Lewiston, with Class A at 9:15 a.m., Class C at 12:45 p.m. and Class B at 4:15 p.m.
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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