Bangor boys cruise past Ellsworth

ELLSWORTH – If the Ellsworth girls tennis team makes another long playoff drive this season, the Eagles turned the ignition key Monday afternoon.

The Eagles turned in one of their most solid efforts this year to net their third straight match victory – 4-1 over the Bangor girls.

As far as long postseason runs, the Bangor boys have been thinking of little else even before the season started. Ever since the Rams were eliminated in the regional quarterfinals, they’ve been focused on returning to the playoffs for a much more extended stay.

The Rams’ focus remained sharp Monday as they dominated Ellsworth 5-0 to remain unbeaten (7-0).

“I think a lot of the guys on the team worked a lot in the winter. A lot of us played pretty consistently, so we were able to pretty much hit the ground running this spring,” senior captain Zak Kubetz said when asked to explain his team’s strong start. “We were disappointed in how things ended in Brunswick last year and it was definitely a jumping-off point for us.

“We know what it’s like to be in the playoffs and we have high expectations. I think we really want to win this year.”

It showed Monday. No Bangor boy lost more than three games as the Rams won 40 of the 49 games played in the five matches.

“We only lost two players from last year and with so many coming back, I knew we’d be strong and they’d probably be pretty motivated as well,” said fifth-year Bangor boys coach Cindi Howard. “I told them I had high expectations this year because I’ve seen them progress. I knew this would be a good team.”

The Rams looked even better than good Monday.

Top singles player Adam Bernstein knocked off Spencer Small 8-3, Will Cutshall defeated Demetrios Katsiaficas 8-1, and Kubetz won his No. 3 singles match against Luke Haskell 8-2. In doubles, Ricky Segal and Aaron Taft downed Joe Birckhead and Riley Woods 8-2 while Matt Cronin and Ian McDonnell beat Alexander Keefe and Zack Emeigh 8-1.

“Being unbeaten is nice because it means we’re keeping up our edge,” said Taft. “But we have to be sure we’re not cocky going into matches just because we’re unbeaten.”

Cockiness hasn’t been a problem for Ellsworth this year despite its status as a historic schoolgirl tennis power.

“We’ve had to make a lot of adjustments with one of our top girls not playing, academic issues, inexperience, and girls playing in different spots,” said Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins.

The Eagles have no seniors, none of Ellsworth’s singles players played singles before this season, and the doubles players are all varsity rookies.

You could have fooled Bangor senior and top singles player Katie Peters, who just shook her head as she came off the court after being beaten 8-0 by Ellsworth sophomore Miranda Grant.

“She never made a mistake… Not one,” said Peters.

Grant laughed when told about the remark and asked if that was typical.

“No, I’m just consistent,” she said. “I don’t really have any power shots and I can’t play the lines since this is my first year playing singles, but I’ve been playing since I was 7 and I come to the net a lot.”

Things were a bit tougher for Grant’s singles mates. Kelsey Crowley outlasted Becky Murdy 9-7 in No. 2 singles and fellow junior Mindy Mahar edged Annie McKay 8-6.

The top doubles duo of junior Amy Smith and sophomore Danel White beat Bangor’s Erin Johnson and Alena Spanger 8-5. Bangor’s Eliza Woodcock and Mary Grace Schley earned the Rams’ only win 8-3.

“It’s exciting to win this and be where we are because we didn’t start out well,” said Crowley. “Last year Miranda and I played doubles together and it’s tough going to singles. Mindy came back to the team, so Danel moved back to doubles, where she’s more comfortable. That’s helped us all get more comfortable.”