EM players get spots in top 8 Tourney resumes Friday morning

Southern Maine players dominate the final seedings for the state high school tennis singles championships that were announced Saturday.

But eastern Maine schools are fairly well represented among the top eight girls and top eight boys who will continue their pursuit of titles beginning Friday at the Wallach Tennis Complex on the campus of Bates College in Lewiston.

Four players from schools north of Topsham earned seeds for the Round of 40 playdown based on their seasonlong efforts as well as advancing through the singles tournament qualifying rounds that were concluded last week.

Franz Zehentner of Caribou, a senior exchange student from Austria who has played first singles for the undefeated Vikings this spring, was seeded fourth among the boys. He will open play against the winner of a Round of 40 match between Jamie Thormann of Mount Desert Island and Mats Haaland of Brunswick.

Ironically, Caribou and Mount Desert Island are among two of the top contenders for the Eastern Maine Class B team title, so if Thormann can defeat Haaland in the Round of 32 matchup with Zehentner could provide a sneak peek into a possible team tournament matchup – especially given that MDI edged Caribou in last year’s Eastern Maine final.

Bangor senior Adam Bernstein earned the No. 7 seed, and will meet the winner of a Round of 40 match between Casey Lancaster of Caribou and Chris Lavoie of Cheverus of Portland. Bernstein advanced to last year’s Round of 16.

Senior Erin Flynn of John Bapst of Bangor is seeded among the top eight girls for the third straight year, earning the No. 6 seed and a Round of 32 match against the winner of the match between Julia Bergeron of Lewiston and Jenna Selander of Caribou.

Flynn is a two-time quarterfinalist after reaching the Round of 16 as a freshman.

Seeded eighth among the girls is Camden Hills of Rockport senior Erika Blauth. Blauth, who earned a trip to the Round of 16 last year, is scheduled to face the winner of a Round of 40 match between Meagan Keith of Hermon and Adrienne Jaeger of Morse of Bath.

Top seeds for the Round of 40 playdown are Camille Jania of Scarborough and Mike Hill of Mount Ararat of Topsham.

Jania, the 2005 state and New England champion, returned to high school competition this spring after focusing on regional and national tournaments for the last two years.

The Harvard-bound Jania and No. 2 seed Christine Ordway of Waynflete of Portland are both undefeated in high school competition, according to girls tournament director Don Atkinson, with Ordway the two-time defending state and New England champion.

Neither has dropped a single set, while Jania has lost just one game in high school regular-season and tournament play, according to Atkinson.

Other seeds are Hallsey Leighton of Falmouth, Chantalle Lavertu of Lewiston, Jess Daly of Cheverus, Flynn, Nicole Garland of Deering and Blauth.

Leighton lost to Ordway in last year’s final, while Lavertu was a semifinalist and Garland reached the quarterfinals.

Hill, the defending state schoolboy champion, heads a list of boys seeds that includes Sam Hyland of Falmouth, Neall Oliver of Deering, Zehentner, Brandon Thompson of Waynflete of Portland, Mike Butler of Lewiston, Bernstein and Andrew Gleason of Cheverus.

Hyland was a finalist last year, while Oliver was a semifinalist with Butler reaching the quarterfinals and Gleason qualifying for the Round of 16.

Round of 40 matches begin at 9:15 a.m. Friday, followed by Round of 32 matches at approximately 11:45 a.m.

The tournament continues at 9:15 a.m. Saturday with the Round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals at 11:45.

The semifinals are slated for June 2 at 9:30 a.m., with the boys and girls championship matches to follow at 1 p.m.