PORTLAND – Erin Flynn doesn’t overpower opponents with the velocity of her shots but can overwhelm foes with the relentless patience of her play.

That was the formula Saturday as the sixth-ranked senior from John Bapst of Bangor defeated Kelsey Boyce of Morse of Bath 6-0, 6-0 before upending No. 3 seed Hallsey Leighton of Falmouth 6-2, 6-2 to earn her first trip to the state high school tennis singles semifinals.

Flynn, ousted in the quarters the last two years, will face two-time defending state champion and No. 2 seed Christine Ordway of Waynflete of Portland in Monday morning’s semifinals.

The other girls semifinal matches No. 1 Camille Jania of Scarborough against No. 4 Chantalle Lavertu of Lewiston, while boys semifinals send defending champion and top seed Mike Hill of Mount Ararat of Topsham against No. 5 Brandon Thompson of Waynflete and No. 2 Sam Hyland of Falmouth against No. 3 Neall Oliver of Deering of Portland.

Saturday’s Round of 16 and quarterfinals were played indoors at the Racket and Fitness Center, where Flynn cruised past Boyce before meeting Leighton.

“I’m much better indoors, so I’m kind of glad we moved inside,” said Flynn. “The first match gave me a chance to warm my strokes up, but I think I was on today.”

She proved that against Leighton, a finalist last spring. Leighton won the opening game of the match and tried to work her way into the net to shorten points, but Flynn adjusted and pulled away.

“She was playing really well and slicing flat shots that were skidding on the ground,” said Flynn, “so I had to start hitting higher, loopier shots to keep her back because when she came to the net she was just unbeatable.”

Flynn was one of five players from north of Augusta to advance from Friday’s Rounds of 40 and 32, with three reaching the quarterfinals.

No. 4 Franz Zehentner of Caribou defeated Mike Hickey of Yarmouth 6-3, 7-5 in the Round of 16 before falling to Thompson 6-0, 7-5.

Thompson, a freshman, used a powerful lefthanded serve and forehand to control the opening set. Zehentner, a senior exchange student from Austria, used his baseline play to take a 4-1 second-set lead before Thompson won six of the final seven games.

“I was playing well at the beginning of the match, hitting a lot of winners and being aggressive,” said Thompson. “In the second set he started playing more consistent and I started missing shots, so I just tried to think about what helped me win the first set.”

Bangor senior Adam Bernstein, a Round of 16 qualifier in 2007, advanced an additional round this year, earning a 7-5, 6-4 victory Gorham’s Aaron Bergeron before falling to Hyland 7-5, 6-2 in the quarters.

After his hard-fought win over Bergeron, No. 7 Bernstein jumped out to a 4-0 first-set lead against Hyland before the 2007 finalist took command.

“The very first four games he just wasn’t ready to play, I don’t think,” said Bernstein. “Then he was like, ‘time to play.'”

“I came out pretty slow,” added Hyland. “It wasn’t that I was slow on my feet, but I was overhitting a lot. He was getting stuff back that I didn’t think he was going to get, and it was just frustrating me. I just had to slow everything down and play how I usually play, and it came back to me a little bit.”

Camden Hills of Rockport senior Erika Blauth, the No. 8 girls seed, topped Thu-Trang Ho of North Yarmouth Academy 6-2, 6-0 before falling to the nationally ranked Jania 6-0, 6-0.

“I’ve definitely never played anybody as good as she is, so nothing can prepare you for that,” said Blauth, undefeated in four years of regular-season play for the Windjammers.

Van Buren senior Taylor Parent earned her first trip to the Round of 16 before falling to No. 7 Nicole Garland of Deering 6-2, 6-1.

“I was really happy just to make it this far,” said Parent, who had advanced with a three-set win over Emily Fowle of Pittsfield’s Maine Central Institute on Friday. “She was lefthanded, and that was different, and she hits a lot harder than the girls I see up north. She’s a very good player.”

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