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The top prize in high school team tennis is up for grabs Saturday when East meets West in the state championship matches at the Wallach Tennis Complex on the campus of Bates College in Lewiston.
Title matches get under way at 9:30 a.m. with the Class C finals between the George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill boys and Waynflete of Portland and between the Madawaska girls and North Yarmouth Academy.
Class B play is set for 12:30 p.m., with Caribou against Falmouth in the boys final and Camden Hills of Rockport facing Falmouth in the girls match.
Lewiston will attempt to defend its Class A titles in both boys and girls play beginning at 3:30, with the five-time champion boys squad facing Cheverus of Portland and the two-time champion girls team facing Kennebunk.
One of the more anticipated showdowns of the day takes place in the Class B boys final, where Falmouth will try to win its third consecutive state championship against a veteran Caribou team that is 75-0 in individual matches this spring.
Caribou (15-0) earned its first Eastern Maine title in boys tennis with a 5-0 victory over Belfast on Wednesday, just a year after holding match point in the regional final before losing a 3-2 decision to Mount Desert Island.
That experience has served as a 12-month source of motivation for the Vikings.
“It’s obviously been in our minds that we didn’t want that to happen again,” said senior first doubles player Spencer McElwain.
Caribou added Austrian exchange student Franz Zehentner to its roster at first singles this spring, and he reached the quarterfinals of the state singles tournament. His presence served to strengthen coach John Habeeb’s singles contingent – No. 2 Shane Belanger and No. 3 Casey Lancaster also qualified for the state tournament – while allowing the Vikings’ doubles teams to remain intact.
“It’s been a dream season so far, and I’m really glad for these boys,” said Habeeb, who has coached tennis at Caribou since 1988. “I’ve got three seniors that I’ve taught since they were about 6 years old, and to see these guys get this title and have the chance to play for a state championship after last year’s heartbreak, it’s a great feeling.”
Falmouth (15-0) features one of the state’s top singles players in top seed Sam Hyland, a state finalist as a junior and a semifinalist this spring.
The Yachtsmen earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Yarmouth in the Western B final, getting victories from Hyland and both doubles teams to remain unbeaten.
The Falmouth girls (14-1) also were top-ranked in Western B, and won their third regional title in four years by knocking off defending state champion Cape Elizabeth 4-1 on Wednesday. Hallsey Leighton leads the way for the Yachtsmen, who most recently won state championships in 2005 and 2006.
Camden Hills is the last Eastern Maine team to win the Class B girls title, in 2003.
Coach Karen Brace’s Windjammers (14-1) broke through for their regional title this year after losing in the finals each of the last two seasons.
Senior Erika Blauth, a state singles quarterfinalist, leads the way for Camden Hills, while Sarah Albertson’s clutch win at second singles proved pivotal in the ‘Jammers’ 3-2 victory over Presque Isle in the EM final.
History suggests the Eastern Maine representatives face a significant challenge in the Class C finals. No Eastern Maine girls team has won a state crown in the previous 13 years of Class C tennis, while just two Eastern C boys champions – Madawaska in 1999 and George Stevens in 2004 – have won the state gold.
The Madawaska girls (11-4) earned their first regional title despite losing last year’s top singles player, Susan Lavertu, to a case of mononucleosis that sidelined her this spring.
But coach Dean Gendreau’s team regrouped, with Nicole Daigle moving up to first singles to lead a charge that propelled the Owls to a 4-1 victory over Dexter in its EM final. Daigle is one of three seniors on the squad, along with third singles player Megan Hebert and first doubles player Jamie Nadeau.
Second singles player Audrey Bergeron reached this year’s state singles Round of 40.
North Yarmouth Academy (14-1) is the defending state champion, and yielded just 16 games in five matches while rolling past top-seeded Boothbay 5-0 in its regional final. The Panthers are led by Thu-Trang Ho, who reached the Round of 16 in singles play.
The George Stevens boys (14-1) are playing in their sixth state final in the last seven years after topping Madawaska 4-1 on Wednesday.
The Eagles are led by senior Cooper Mor, who has been a constant at first singles throughout the team’s recent run. Giammarco Manzoni, an Italian exchange student, plays first singles, while Henry Owen’s come-from-behind win at third singles was a pivotal result in the Eastern Maine final.
GSA traditionally is strong in doubles, and this year features the teams of Elias Springer and Dillon Morris and Dylan Stewart and Michael Senter-Zapata.
Waynflete (14-1) was top-ranked in Western C and is led by a powerful singles tandem. Top seed Brandon Thompson, a lefthanded-hitting freshman, reached the semifinals of the state singles tournament after defeating Caribou’s Zehentner in the quarterfinals, while No. 2 Devin Van Dyke was a state quarterfinalist.
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