By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Edward Little girls’ tennis coach Craig Jipson had no illusions of grandeur this week.

“We had a tough spot on the schedule this week, no question,” said the rookie tennis coach. “It was important to keep our confidence after getting a win on Saturday.”

Tough may have been a slight understatement, with Mt. Ararat looming later this week. And Tuesday’s opponent? Cross-river rival and perennial power Lewiston, which waltzed through four of the five matches Tuesday to claim a 5-0 win over the Red Eddies.

“The scores made it look more lopsided than it really was,” conceded Lewiston coach Anita Murphy.

“They never did give up, especially in the second sets,” said Jipson. “I was impressed with the second sets and how they fought.”

It was hard to fight at all in the brisk wind, and the overcast skies made for some tough playing weather, but the Blue Devils fought through that test as well. Lewiston’s second doubles tandem of Jessica Roy and Kasey Boucher finished their two sets against EL’s Jamie Bourgoin and Hannah Jacobs in less than 40 minutes, taking a 6-0, 6-0 decision.

Chantalle Lavertu finished quickly thereafter, posting a love-and-love victory of her own over EL No. 1 Christine Chamberlin.

“That’s the thing about that match in particular,” said Murphy. “(Chamberlin) battled hard. She really was in every point.”

Lewiston’s No. 1 doubles team, twins Aurdey and Julia Bergeron, easily dispatched Edward Little’s Rory Chisholm-Drane and Alyssa Bellefleur, 6-1, 6-1, while Ashley McWhorter finished off freshman Harriet Lowe 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

The tightest match of the day, and the longest at more than 90 minutes, came at No. 2 singles. Katelyn Ouellette of Lewiston won the first set from Sarah Ross 6-3, but fell behind twice in the second by three games, first at 0-3 and again at 2-5. She battled back to 5-6 before rallying to send the set into a tiebreaker as rain started to fall at Auburn Heights.

Ouellette landed several key lunging backhand volleys in the tiebreak to eventually carry the set 7-6, with a 9-7 tiebreaker.

Edward Little will match up with Mt. Ararat this week, while Lewiston will face KVAC nemesis Brunswick, which knocked the Blue Devils out of the playoffs last season and returns a full complement of varsity players.