The match scores may not be as dominant as in previous seasons, however, the meet results are what matters in the end.

In that respect, the Lewiston High School girls’ tennis team is still unbeaten and remains in position to go out on top in its final year of competition in the Southern Maine Activities Association.

Lewiston entered the week 4-0, with its lone shutout in the season opener against South Portland. The Blue Devils remain tied with McAuley as the only unbeaten team in the conference. Both teams recorded hard fought 3-2 wins last week against previously unbeaten Deering and Edward Little.

“Deering was very tough,” Lewiston coach Anita Murphy said. “I think they are the strongest team in SMAA. I don’t think McAuley is as strong this year. No. 1 singles player Christie Beaulieu is now playing at No. 3 after coming back from an elbow injury. (Plus), we basically have a new team if you think of it.”

Lewiston beat McAuley handily 4-1 last spring in the Class A state finals at Deering Oaks. It was the Blue Devils’ second straight state crown and third in four years. The two teams square off next week in Portland.

Katie A. Morin and Alli Bleakney, each played doubles last year, are playing second and third singles. The transition from doubles to singles usually requires an adjustment period, but Morin has taken the challenge head on.

Morin and No. 1 singles Amy Sarrazin are both unbeaten and have not dropped a set. Sarrazin, unbeaten in three years, has only lost three of 27 games.

“This season is a much greater challenge,” Murphy said. “Teams are much closer in talent than in the past two years and the girls pulled out a great win against Deering, who is loaded with talent. I expected that this year.”

Bleakney has split her four matches, but her performances are not indicative of them outcomes. The junior has come up short in two 7-6 sets and one at 7-5. The added experience should be a factor in turning the scores around in her favor.

The doubles teams have been juggled and the only doubles player from last year is junior Beth Melanson. At this point, Melanson and sophomore Roxanne Healey play at No. 1, while the No. 2 doubles team consists of junior Amanda Bergeron and freshman Jessica Roy. Katie Nadeau will also be getting some playing time at 2nd doubles. A third doubles team, Katie Nadeau and Tracey Bradley, also competed in the SMAA doubles tournament.

Double trouble

The same colors were hitting returns to each other at the SMAA Doubles championships last Saturday. Not surprisingly, the blue and white (gray t-shirts) of Lewiston and the purple and white of Deering donned both sides of the courts.

The Lewiston first doubles tandem of Nick Bonnefant and John Damon battled Bruce Bryant and freshman Jamie Morin. The four teammates hooked up for a competitive match, which included two tiebreakers. Bonnefant and Damon needed to refocus to win the second set 7-6 (3) and then won the match behind a 6-3 score in the rubber set. Bryant and Morin had won the initial set 7-6 (9).

Both tandems felt they had something to prove because two days earlier they had each lost in straight sets against Deering.

On the girls’ side, a streak came to a screeching halt. For the past decade, a Lewiston tandem had won the doubles crown. It had become an annual tradition and on several occasions both Blue Devil teams matched rackets.

A pair of tandems from the Twin Cities each lost straight-set matches in the semi-finals to Deering players. They included Bergeron and Roy, plus Edward Little teammates Tess Chamberlin and Brenda Whylie.