LEWISTON – Despite having won three of the last four Class A girls’ tennis state championships, the Lewiston High Blue Devils have plenty of questions to answer before they can look ahead.

The returning veterans are certainly not lacking in confidence, however, they are aware that there’s a bull’s-eye directed at them from the rest the teams in the Southern Maine Activities Association. The Blue Devils have dominated the SMAA for over a decade.

“Three-peat,”senior co-captain Amy Sarrazin said. “That’s our goal to win the state title again. But this is a rebuilding year for us with the doubles teams. It’ll be a different situation for us, but we are determined to carry on the tradition.”

The dramatic change was prompted because last season’s first doubles team are both battling each other for starting berths at second and third singles. Senior co-captain Katie A. Morin and junior Alli Bleakney combined to win the SMAA doubles crown. A Blue Devils tandem has won the SMAA doubles championship annually since the early 1990s.

“It’s a lot different mentally,” Morin said, referring to the transition. “In singles you’re on the court by yourself. So if you make a mistake, you can’t blame it on your partner.”

Morin pointed out how important it is to keep one’s head in the game. Any letdown or negative reaction usually provides opponents with an advantage. Morin also won the doubles crown as a freshman with former teammate Mickey Begin.

“Its important for us to go out on top again,” Morin said. “The team has been undefeated the past two years and we’d like to do it again. Winning is great, but we just want to have fun.”

Beth Melanson is the lone returning player who competed in doubles matches. The Blue Devils have some promising underclassman who can fill the void. But the majority of the spring was washed out by inclement weather, and the cold temperatures even forced the cancellation of one practice for the first time in 25 years.

“Preseason is always tough,” Lewiston coach Anita Murphy said. “The challenge matches between teammates can be extremely hard because all the girls want to play. I’m hoping that the team can jell quickly. Katie Morin and Alli Bleakney will need to step up in new positions, but they are fighters.”

A constant the previous three seasons has been the play of Sarrazin at No. 1 singles. She earned the top spot as a 13-year-old freshman and lost the only two matches ever in team play. Sarrazin has won 32-straight matches and last year became the first Lewiston female player to advance to the final four in the state singles tournament.

“Refuse to lose,”Sarrazin said. “A strength of mine has been my attitude. I need to take that approach when ever I step on a court.”

Sarrazin pulled a back muscle this spring, so she has been unable to serve for the past two weeks. The Blue Devil co-captains both plan on going on to college and Sarrazin will play tennis at Quinipiac, majoring in physical therapy. Morin, ranked ninth in her class, will play basketball at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Lewiston is competing in the SMAA for the final year because it switches over to a Kennebec Valley Conference schedule in 2004. The Devils know what lies ahead because last year they were switched to the Eastern regional and encountered Waterville and Brunswick. “We always need to be ready,” Bleakney said. “In (SMAA) ,there’s not just one team that we need to look out for because their all out to beat us. That type of competition makes us play more consistent. The experience of playing out of season has really helped us be more prepared.”