Ordway paces Flyers’ sweep of Riots in ‘C’ Devils, Falmouth grab titles

PORTLAND – A look at the record of the Waynflete School girls tennis team as the Flyers prepared for Saturday’s Class C state championship match suggested a trace of vulnerability.

They had lost three times already this spring, after all.

But then came the knowledge that those losses came to Falmouth, Greely of Cumberland Center, and York – the top three teams in Western B, who combined for a 32-4 regular-season record. That sense of vulnerability in Class C circles quickly disappeared.

Led by state singles champion Christine Ordway, the Portland school claimed its first state title since 2002 by topping two-time Eastern Maine champion Orono 5-0 in the Class C final played indoors at the Racket and Fitness Club.

This marked the 12th straight year since the Maine Principals’ Association added Class C tennis that the WM champ has won the girls state title.

“I’ve noticed that comparing central and northern Maine to southern Maine, it’s like a completely different sport, almost,” said Orono top seed Kate Kirby. “I think people put a lot more time and money into it down here than where we are.

“But we’ve done so well, and just to win Eastern Maine for the type of competition we’re used to says a lot for our team.”

Lewiston won the Class A crown with a 4-1 victory over Deering of Portland, while Falmouth earned its second straight Class B championship with a 5-0 win over Waterville.

Orono (13-3) managed to win just seven games against 13-3 Waynflete, but that was four more games than Monmouth Academy took from the Flyers in the Western C final.

In fact, one of Waynflete’s biggest challenges was a wardrobe malfunction as the Flyers’ players initially weren’t wearing identical uniform jerseys and were briefly called off the court to discuss the matter with MPA officials before purchasing identical T-shirts to wear.

Ordway, a freshman, then got the Flyers off to a quick start, defeating Kirby 6-1, 6-0.

“I looked her up online, and she was like 350th in the nation and number one in the state, obviously, so I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Kirby.

“My coach told me after the first set that you can’t outpower her, try to get her with some slices and see what she does with it. We had a couple of rallies that went pretty well and I got a game off her and took her to deuce a pretty good number of times. It was just that she’d either make a mistake or put it away with one hit. It was like I didn’t really have a chance to do anything with the ball.”

Waynflete’s Rachel Goldman and Eliza Timpson scored straight-set victories over Orono’s Katie Foley and Mari Dawn Lamb at second and third singles. The Flyers also swept the two doubles matches, with Annie Hancock and Ali Schklair topping Asne Dahl and Katie Weatherbee and Kristy Andrews and Kate Peterson defeating Margaret Payne and Megan Quintal.

“The girls had a great season,” said Orono coach Dean Armstrong. “We had good competition in the north, but down south the competition a lot of times is a little better. Although ours is good, theirs is better.

“But the kids had a great time, they’ve matured a great deal. Everybody is back except Kate Kirby, so we’re looking to have a good year next year.”

Waterville, a first-year Class B program after dropping from Class A, was making its first trip to the state finals to face a Falmouth team featuring two semifinalists and a third quarterfinalist from this spring’s state singles tournament.

The Yachtsmen (16-0) lived up to that resume with five straight-set victories.

Lewiston won its first state title in girls tennis since winning back-to-back crowns in 2001 and 2002, dropping only the second singles match to Deering, the three-time reigning Western A champion.