The experience of several upperclassmen will be a theme throughout the Mountain Valley Conference.

The girls’ teams at Mountain Valley and Jay return senior-laden clubs, providing the experience needed to drive toward a playoff berth.

Moriah Cormier leads the Falcons at No. 1 singles, followed by seniors Mahala Patrick and Danielle Desjardins. Patrick played at third singles last year, while Desjardins is up from doubles.

“I don’t like to project,” Mountain Valley coach Elaine Michaud said. “I just know that we have some experienced players, so every time we step on the court, the kids will be competitive and win or lose, the (goal) is to have fun.”

The first doubles could be Allison Duguay and junior Chelsie O’Connell. Seniors Hillary Glaus and Ashley Mowat have the inside track at No. 2 doubles.

Jay will rely on Heidi Purrington and Cortney Gould. Nikki Smith, Julie Ladd, Stacy Cote and Jaime Melcher provide depth. Juniors Kasey Simoneau, Kristen Simoneau and Michele Munson will challenge.

“Our strength is the large number of returning players with experience,” Jay coach Denise Brown said. “The overall team has a positive outlook, are committed and very focused on improvement.”

The rebuilding phase is complete at Dirigo, which will be out to improve on a 6-6 record. Junior Jenn Harvey will be at No. 1 singles.

Ryanne Brown will be playing No. 2, while sophomore Christina Chow and juniors Danielle Glover and Lindsey Kerr are going to make up the next three spots. Newcomers Mallory Child and Michelle Hamann will be the second doubles team.

Winthrop lost all three of its singles players, including three-year starter Kristy Pavanta. Co-captains Elf Ettle and Emily Blanc lead the returnees.

On the boy’s side, Dirigo has a solid 1-2 punch with Gabriel Bodya and Matt Chamberlin. Bodya is an exchange student from Arequpa, Peru. The development of the doubles tandems will be key, with Joey Kilbreth, Rye Daily, Zach Libby and Steve Erskine.

Mountain Valley has seniors Brett Hine, Zachary Martin and Max DeMilner, junior Andy Bohren and sophomore Matt Hutchins. New players Derek Croteau, Josh Louvat and Chad Mouen could challenge for spots.

“All the returning players can win on any given day,” Falcons coach Don Fuller said. “The new members, while still learning the game, will have opportunities to achieve some victories. There are always strong teams from tennis communities, but we are competitive with most. It is always a question as to size of team, which I attribute to lack of a feeder system from middle school.”

Winthrop will be competitive with six seniors who could raise the program back toward the top. The Ramblers, which had dominated the MVC for nearly a decade, have Nate Frechette, Chris Belanger, Jordan Bell, Darren Paul and junior Jason Dick.

Monmouth will be looking toward gaining respectability after the coaches switched programs. Senior co-captains Cory Shepard and Matt Kelley lead the boys.
KVAC and WMC
The Oak Hill boys earned some respect last year and return most of its lineup to Class B in the KVAC .

Saint Dom’s has struggled in the Western Maine Conference, but return seniors Chris Dubay and Mike Perriault at Nos. 1 and 3 singles, respectively. Joe Bissonette and Tom Gosselin return at doubles.

“Our team lacks experience and depth,” first-year coach Chris Roy said. “Although we have a lot of seniors, many are new to the game of tennis. We also have a very tough schedule with most of our matches being played against Class B teams.”

Newcomers include Shawn Longley and Ryan Guerin at doubles and freshman Joe Theriault at No.2 singles.

The girls include Melinda Hoyt, Lauren Tardiff, Sara Daigle and Rachel Nadeau.

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