Last year’s loss taught Flynn a lot

Erin Flynn doesn’t consider herself one of the top athletes in her school.

“An athlete, for me, can play all kinds of sports,” said the John Bapst of Bangor sophomore. “I tried soccer, but I never really showed any other athletic promise.”

Except for tennis, that is, where the 15-year-old Hancock resident is establishing herself as one of the state’s top players – good enough to be undefeated so far this season, and good enough to be seeded seventh for the girls state singles Round of 40 playdown that begins today at Bates College in Lewiston.

As one of eight seeded players – and one of just two from north of Lewiston – Flynn won’t play her first match until Saturday morning.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “But I’m a little nervous because there are a lot of expectations when you’re the No. 1 player on the team. Last year I kind of came in behind the scenes, but this year is different.”

Flynn also qualified for the Round of 40 a year ago and won her first match before dropping a frustrating three-setter to York’s Lauren Coupal in the Round of 16.

Flynn led Coupal 4-3 on serve in the final set when a brief disagreement over a line call lingered on Flynn’s mind, and Coupal then ran off the next three games to win the match.

“I let myself get upset about that,” Flynn said. “It was one stupid point and one stupid call, and it was probably my own fault. I’ve been working on that ever since, to try to be stronger mentally so I won’t let myself get unraveled by one point.”

What Flynn experienced in that match last spring she sometimes now sees in opponents, and when that happens, she is quick to use her considerable tennis skills to capitalize.

“You definitely see a lot of players that are really good, but there’s a lot of pressure and some of them don’t make it,” Flynn said. “I’ve played some people that if the universe was fair, they would kick my butt, but they break down in the middle of the match and I end up winning.”

Flynn hopes increased mental toughness will join forces with another year of experience and a steadily improving game to take her past the Round of 16 this weekend.

Not that she’ll try to overwhelm the best in the state with the pace of her game. That’s not her style.

“I used to try to hit the ball as hard as I could, but this year as my form has gotten better I’ve worked on different things,” said the 5-foot-7 Flynn, who trains at the Ellsworth Tennis Center owned by her mother. “I don’t really hit that hard now, but I hit with a lot of spin and I have a lot of loopy shots. I feel like I’m a pretty consistent player.”

As for her second chance at the state singles tournament, Flynn’s goals are similarly finessed in nature, and also are based on a lesson learned a year ago.

“I’m hoping that when I do get tested, which I will because there are a lot of good girls in the tournament, that I won’t come out of it looking like a jerk, that I’ll be mentally tough and not give up,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what the score is, I want to make sure that I play my best and don’t give up.”

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045 or 1-800-310-8610, or by e-mail at eclark@bangordailynews.net