The situation was dire.
The Brunswick High School girls tennis team trailed 2-0, and Portland’s No. 1 doubles team of Kayla Berg and Georgia Drew led the Dragons’ top duo of Samiera MacMullen and Hannah Bobker, 6-3, 4-3, just two games shy from a Bulldogs State Class A championship at the Bangor Tennis Club on Saturday.
With Brunswick’s Ali Stankiewicz leading her match at No. 2 singles, and Maisie Silverman warming up one court over, all hopes rested on MacMullen and Bobker to make a comeback.
Today, the Dragons can celebrate being two-time, or as they chanted “2- peat” champions as Brunswick rallied for a 3-2 victory.
Meanwhile, Stankiewicz finished off Portland’s Sophie Hulbert, 6-2, 6-2, and Silverman needed just 37 minutes in a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Bulldogs No. 1 Annette Dunekas.
“It was tense,” said Brunswick coach Rob Manter after watching his team finish 16-0 for the second consecutive year. “I am so proud of these girls. To win a 10-point tiebreaker against a quality team was really exciting. This is very special. I am so happy for them after they worked so hard all year. They are just a special group of girls.”
Things certainly began poorly for the Dragons. Portland led the first three matches 3-0 in the first set, going on to capture each.
At No. 2 doubles, Portland’s Alyssa Vaccaro and Lily Bruenjes swept to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ellie Mersereau and Ari Kasabian for a 1-0 Bulldogs lead, and moments later Brunswick’s Leah Soloway fell to Portland’s Margot Andreasen, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 3 singles, giving Portland a 2-0 match edge.
Down a set, MacMullen and Bobker trailed 4-3 in the second set, but took a 6-5 lead as Bobker held her serve. Berg held serve at love to send the second set to a tiebreaker. After dropping the first point, the Dragons reeled off four straight to take control, and Mac- Mullen’s volley after a solid Bobker serve evened the match.
After a five-minute break, tiebreaker No. 2 began.
“I told them to take a breath and stay relaxed, and just have fun and stay on their toes,” said Manter of the second tie-breaker. I just said that I will be proud of them win or lose.”
“We knew that second doubles and third singles had lost, so we realized that we had to win those two tiebreakers,” said Bobker. “It was hard to come right back after the second set, knowing that we had to play another tiebreaker right away.”
Again, Brunswick used a four-point run to take control, this time taking a 5-2 lead. Trailing 8-5, Berg and Drew won the next two points on Bobker’s serve to close to within a point. A double fault gave the Dragons a 9-7 lead, but Portland won two agonizingly long rallies to tie the match. Brunswick earned a third match point as MacMullen spiked a short return for a 10-9 lead, and the junior put the match away moments later with a second short volley.
“With Maisie and Ali out there, we felt pretty confident that we were going to win it,” said Bobker.
“It was difficult to concentrate on my match, as I was watching the No. 1 doubles match at the same time,” said Stankiewicz, who trailed 2-1 in the second set before winning the final five games to close out her match. “I needed to win this for my team, and I was able to come back and play well. And, with Maisie on the court, I was confident that we had it.”
“I was really scared that we weren’t going to do it, and down 2-0, we knew that it was all or nothing,” said Mac- Mullen. “We were able to keep the ball in play after they caught us off-guard in the first set. They were good, and we hadn’t seen that kind of competition all year. We kept each other going, even when they came back. We didn’t know how good Portland was. We are happy to have won this.”
“Between every point of my match I was watching them and cheering them on,” said Silverman. “At a changeover, I went up and hugged them both and was just so happy that they gave us a chance to win. We put in the work and the effort, plus we have the love and the bond behind it. That gave us an edge over the other teams.”
For Portland coach Bonnie Moran, she felt her squad did all it could to win the state title.
“I think my girls played terrific against a very good team, and we had to bring the best we had and we did,” said Moran, whose Bulldogs closed the season at 15-1. “Somebody goes home unhappy, and today it is us.”
And, about the tiebreaker?
“It was so short, and it is not the format that they were really happy with, to play a 10-point tiebreaker, but we had to stay focused and stay calm,” added Moran. “They gave it all that they had. It doesn’t get any closer than that.”
“We improved all year, and this has just been a dream. We are already thinking ahead to next year, with most of us returning,” said Stankiewicz.
Brunswick seniors going out on top are Bobker, Mersereau and Kasabian.
Brunswick 3, Portland 2
State Class A Girls Tennis Championship
At Bangor Tennis Club, Hampden
Maisie Silverman (B) over Annette Denekas, 6-0, 6-0.
Ali Stankiewicz (B) over Sophie Hulbert, 6-2, 6-2.
Margot Andreasen (P) over Leah Soloway, 6-1, 6-3.
Samiera MacMullen and Hannah Bobker (B) over Kayla
Berg and Georgia Drew, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 11-9.
Alyssa Vaccaro and Lily Bruenjes (P) over Ellie
Mersereau and Ari Kasabian, 6-2, 6-4.
Records — Brunswick 16-0, Portland 15-1.
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