Brunswick, Waterville girls tennis claim Northern Maine titles (original) (raw)
Brewer’s Gabby Chasse serves during the No. 1 doubles match against Brunswick in the Class A North girls regional finals at Colby College in Waterville on Monday. Chasse and teammate Reece McKenney defeated Brunswick’s Isabella Farkas-Izgordu and Sophia Robertson. (Rich Abrahamson/Staff Photographer)Purchase this image
WATERVILLE — There were some nerve-wracking moments for both the Brunswick and Waterville girls tennis teams Monday — just not enough to keep both favorites from achieving regional supremacy.
Brunswick (4-1 over Brewer in Class A) and Waterville (3-2 over Presque Isle in Class B) claimed Northern Maine titles at Colby College. The wins send the Dragons and Purple Panthers to their respective state finals against Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth on Wednesday at Bates College.
A North No. 1 Brunswick (15-0) quickly moved within one match win of a team victory thanks to Molly Tefft and Ellie Meserve. Tefft beat Brewer’s Julia Spencer 6-2, 6-0 in No. 1 singles, and Meserve beat the Witches’ Delaney McDonough by the same score in second singles.
“We really have two No. 1 players on our team, and we’re very fortunate to have that,” said Brunswick coach Josh Levy. “They compete against each other in practice, and they compete against the boys in practice. They’re good human beings, and they’re a pleasure to coach.”
The Dragons’ other victories did not come nearly as easily. The third singles, first doubles and second doubles matches all went to third sets, the latter sealing the regional title as Brunswick’s Caroline Martin and May Wickwire beat Brewer’s Izzie Long and Sayde Persaud 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 to seal victory.
“It was very (stressful),” said Tefft, a state singles semifinalist last month. “It always seems to happen at regionals and states — it’s very close. … It was 4-1 as well (when we played Brewer in the regular season) — a very similar result to today — so we knew they were going to be a tough opponent.”
Lila Patient defeated Lydia Jordan 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11) at No. 3 singles to earn the fourth victory for Brunswick, which won the Class A North title for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Second-seeded Brewer’s (10-5) Gabby Chasse and Reese McKenney beat Bella Farkas and Sophia Robertson 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (9) at first doubles.
In B North, Waterville’s Nina Mitchell and Gwen Lord beat Presque Isle’s Mackenzie Vigue and Peyton McKinley 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 doubles. Sabine Wells-Puckett then defeated the Purple Panthers’ Sadie St. Peter 6-1, 6-1 in second singles to even it for No. 4 Presque Isle (12-3).
Waterville’s No. 3 singles player, Hannah Zeimetz and No. 2 doubles team of Brooklyn Hart and Ava Martin both won hard-fought first sets, and cruised in the second set to help the second-seeded Panthers (14-1) advance. Zeimetz beat Karpi Griffeth 6-4, 6-0, while Hart and Martin beat Payton Monahan and Meredith House, 6-3, 6-1.
Presque Isle played a schedule consisting solely of eastern Maine teams, so there was little in the way of common opponents between the Wildcats and Panthers. That concerned Hart and Mitchell, but both were confident in their doubles team.
“Honestly, I feel like we really didn’t know what to expect,” Hart said. “We knew we were capable, but we thought it was going to be a hard fight. It was, but we made it through, and that was fulfilling. … I think we worked harder than we could have imagined, and we’re going to come right back and do it again.”
Alice Korzekwa won the final match, No. 1 singles, for Presque Isle, beating Waterville’s Piper Hamilton 6-1, 6-1. It was the first defeat to a Class B opponent all year for the Wildcats, whose two previous losses were in a May 23 doubleheader against Brewer.
Camden Hills and Caribou won the day’s boys matches at Colby. The No. 1 Windjammers (14-1) beat No. 3 Bangor (12-3) 4-1 in the A North final, and the No. 2 Hawks (14-1) knocked off top-seeded Caribou (14-1) 3-2 in B North.
Mike Mandell came to the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel in April 2022 after spending five and a half years with The Ellsworth American in Hancock County, Maine. He came to Maine out of college after... More by Mike Mandell