LEWISTON – “I hate playing indoors,” Lewiston’s Adam Wilding said after facing Andrew Knapp of Edward Little. “Everything is so different, and the ball doesn’t bounce as high.”

Wilding might hate it, but that didn’t make him any less proficient on Monday.

Playing in their final regular-season match, the Blue Devils jumped on Edward Little early and scored a decisive 4-1 win over their cross-town rivals.

“We played a solid match today,” Lewiston coach Ron Chicoine. “Consistency is important right now, because I still think we are vulnerable as a team come the playoffs. We needed to get this match in because we hadn’t played in a while.”

Because of inclement weather, both the boys and the girls played indoors at Bates College’s Merrill Gymnasium, even though the boys’ match was initially scheduled to be played in Auburn.

“Everything happened pretty much how we expected it to in the match,” EL coach Norm Gellatly said. “Our doubles rose to the occasion today and played well, even the first doubles, which lost to a superior team.”

With just two courts on which to play, the two doubles teams played first, with EL and Lewiston splitting those points. EL’s Charlie Orne and B.J. Levasseur upended Lewiston’s Ben Bergeron and Luke Bonenfant 7-5, 6-0. Recently-crowned KVAC doubles champs James Morin and Mike Sarrazin of Lewiston defeated Nate Guerette and Ryan Goss of EL 6-2, 6-0.

In the singles matches, Nick Bonenfant of Lewiston pounded his way past Brian Gleason 6-1, 6-0, while Wilding breezed by Knapp 6-0, 6-0 in less than 30 minutes. In the last boys’ match, No. 1 Mike Burke made short work of Adam Platz, 6-2, 6-2.

Lewiston finished the regular season undefeated and will likely be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Eastern Class A playoffs.

Lewiston girls take the bridge

As a tennis player, taking 10 games from an opponent in one match is admirable. As a team, however, that can only spell disaster.

The Lewiston High School girls’ tennis team scored a decisive 5-0 victory over Edward Little, allowing the Red Eddies just 10 games among the 10 total sets played.

“It makes a big difference in here,” Lewiston’s Beth Melanson said. “The lighting is so bad, it’s dim and it’s hard to see, and when you combine that with the surface being faster, it’s tough.”

The fast surface helped the Blue Devils on Monday, though. At No. 2 doubles, freshman Katelyn Ouellette’s first four serves were all aces. She and doubles partner Ashley McWhorter went on to beat Jessica Pelletier and Terri Eustis 6-1, 6-1.

“It’s a lot faster indoors,” Ouellette said. “They were leaving the alleys open a lot and we were able to poach on their returns, and that helped, too.”

Roxanne Healey and Katie Nadeau finished off Sarah Ross and Martina Schumann at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-1, giving the Blue Devils an early 2-0 advantage.

Melanson clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Elizabeth Mitchell at No. 2 singles.

“I’m hard on myself when I play,” Melanson said. “Even when I am not playing in a tight match, I tend to push myself. I always try to win as fast and as easily as possible.”

Amanda Bergeron followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Christine Chamberland, and Alli Bleakney finished the sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles.

Lewiston will likely get the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Eastern Class A playoffs, with just one early loss to Mt. Ararat on its record.

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