The Lewiston boys and girls will face Brunswick in the regional finals.
By Bob McPhee
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A fast start turned into a momentum booster for Lewiston High School girls’ tennis in its Eastern Class A semifinal playoff meet Saturday afternoon.

Lewiston and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Amy Bergeron and Jessica Roy was in perfect harmony in a straight-set meet-clinching win as the Lady Blue Devils remained unbeaten following a 4-1 contest against Waterville at the Franklin courts.

No. 2 Lewiston (14-0) advances to its second straight regional final against top-ranked Brunswick next Wednesday at the University of Maine in Orono. The Blue Devils are actually playing in their ninth consecutive regional final, with the first seven having been in the West.

Lewiston had taken an insurmountable 2-0 lead as partners Beth Melanson and Roxanne Healy won 12 of 14 games in a 6-0, 6-2 rout at No. 1 doubles over Syndey Ruff and Palmer McAuliff. The Blue Devils quickly executed a working strategy to dispose of their opponents.

“We found out that rushing the net was effective,” Healey said. “That allowed to return shots directly at their feet and that’s a difficult shot for them to return. We just had to keep our shots hard and long.”

Moments later, Bergeron and Roy completed their match with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win against Kristen Witham and Lexi Keith. The winning duo was very deliberate and never allowed the Waterville players to get on track.

The meet was a rematch of last year’s two-day marathon between the teams that Lewiston also won by an identical 4-1 score. This meet was expected to be even more competitive because the Purple Panthers featured six seniors.

“I’m not really surprised by the outcome,”Lewiston coach Anita Murphy said. “It’s hard to judge this team because they’re so loose during practices, but it’s a different story in a meet. The doubles teams really carried us today, and Katie A. Morin also played extremely well.”

Morin (14-0) produced the most entertaining match by outperforming Kailea Shapiro 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. The scores certainly weren’t indicative of the competitiveness in the drama-filled event.

“I had to be aggressive,” Morin said. “There were some long volleys, but I knew if I just kept the ball in play that I’d win.”

Alli Bleakney had given Lewiston a lead by dispatching Allison Harris 6-love, 6-love in 55 minutes at third singles.

In an interesting rubber match at No. 1 singles between the Purple Panthers’ Tracy Nale and Amy Sarrazin of Lewiston. Sarrazin had beaten Nale last year, however, Nale prevailed in the quarterfinals of the state singles tournament two weeks ago.

Nale prevailed again 6-4, 6-2 as Sarrazin committed numerous unforced errors

“It was different today,”Nale said. “The previous match was in a tournament and we were both tired, but we was fresh today and could go all out. I had to try and force her to take aside angle because she’s very consistent.”

Boys shut out Gardiner

The thought of returning to complete its meet only served to fire up the Lewiston boys’ tennis team, which advanced to the Eastern Class A regional final after a convincing 5-0 win against Gardiner.

Lewiston had been leading 1-0 on Friday afternoon when a heavy downpour halted play. Fortunately, it only served to prolong the inevitable.

The No. 1 doubles team of Nick Bonnenfant and Jon Damon maintained their focus to pull out a 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3 win over Kevin Solanen and Damien Moore. Each tandem had won a set the previous day, but the Blue Devils had the advantage when play resumed.

“The first doubles was key for us today,” Lewiston coach Ron Chicoine said. “But, the day before the second doubles (Bryce Bryant and James Morin) had won to give us a 1-0 lead and I think that had provided the boys with a big lift entering today.”

Lewiston (13-1) also advances to play top-ranked Brunswick next Wednesday morning at the University of Maine. Gardiner concludes its season at 14-2.

Mike Burke and Nate Theriault each remained unbeaten with straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Burke used his height and power in breezing by Coby Thayer 6-3, 6-1. Theriault was equally effective against Ben Garwood 6-1, 6-4.

“The team is playing with confidence,” Burke said. “That’s not saying that we take any opponent lightly. We have to be prepared for every match because there’s always a chance of falling behind.”

The Blue Devils’ Adam Wilding outserved Willie Guerrette 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.