LEWISTON – The freshmen grew up, the seniors buckled down, and the Lewiston High School boys’ and girls’ tennis teams did Saturday at Bates College what the rest of the state is getting used to by now: Winning state titles.

For just the third time in MPA tennis history, Lewiston’s boys and girls completed a rare double-three-peat – both teams winning three straight state titles.

Senior Matt Letourneau polished off Cheverus freshman Will Lenk 6-3, 6-1 on the boys’ side and the second doubles tandem of senior Samantha Ricker and freshman Abby Blaisdell took care of Kennebunk’s Shelagh O’Brien and Zoe Hagen 6-3, 6-4 to clinch eventual 5-0 wins for their teams at the Class A state tennis championships.

“What really surprised me was the playoffs, and how well we started to play,” Lewiston girls’ coach Anita Murphy said.

“I think everybody was a lot tighter than I thought they’d be,” Lewiston boys’ coach Ron Chicoine said. “I tried to keep them loose, but in the end they loosened up and hit good shots. I’m proud of them.”

The boys had the tougher day.

Through five to seven games in the first set, the Blue Devils trailed in two of the four matches on court.

The turnaround came from a likely source – a scrappy veteran who saw his team might be in trouble.

“I just don’t like to lose,” Lewiston’s No. 2 singles player Ben McDonough said. I lost the first set in the state championship last year, and I didn’t want to repeat that. I also saw my other teammates weren’t doing so well at the time … I knew I had to pull my match out.”

“(Chris) Lavoie played very well,” Chicoine said. “He was very consistent and he had some weapons, and he kept Ben off-balance a bit, but Ben was able to regroup, and to pull that out was big. If he doesn’t win that set, I think it’s a different ballgame.”

After again battling through an up-and-down first set, No. 1 doubles tandem Devyn Cote and Alex Chicoine of Lewiston earned the Blue Devils’ first point with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Elliot Coates and Evan Cianchette.

Freshman duo Scott Gagne and Eric Hall followed with a victory at No. 2 doubles, setting up Letourneau for the clincher.

“He played a strong first set, but in the second, after I got up on him early, he started letting down,” Letourneau said. “Ben was still struggling to finish up, so I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I might have a chance to do this.'”

Letourneau and Cote finished their careers at Lewiston on Saturday, having never lost in an MPA-sanctioned team match.

“You grow up, thinking, ‘Oh yeah, I want to go undefeated,’ but it’s something you don’t think can ever come true,” Letourneau said. “We’re very lucky and fortunate to be a part of Lewiston tennis. We have a great group of kids, and a great coach.”

Cheverus, the No. 5 seed from the West, ran out of gas against Lewiston, but had a remarkable run of its own this season.

“Every coach likes to tell their team, ‘Well, you lost a close match to them in the regular season, you can get them in the playoffs,'” Cheverus coach Wayne St. Peter said. “But this team did that. They peaked. Each one of the reached down and found another level of tennis.I can’t feel sad. These guys overcame tremendous odds to get here. They laid it on the line out there.”

McDonough polished off Lavoie to make it 4-0 Lewiston, and then, after a quick adjustment between sets, Mike Butler overcame a slow start and cruised past Andy Gleason 6-2, 6-1.

On the girls’ side, the feeling of deja vu lingered. In 2003, after two straight titles, Lewiston lost in the final – to Kennebunk.

This year, again against the Rams, Lewiston succeeded in completing three in a row.

“This year, I knew how good they were,” Kennebunk coach Pat Pickering said. “They run a super program here and I knew it would be a really tough match. This is such different tennis than we’ve played all season. This is hard-fought, hard-hitting tennis.”

In a battle of unbeaten doubles teams, sophomore Emilie Cloutier and senior Emily Parent of Lewiston trounced Kennebunk’s Renee Auger and McKenna Minor 6-0, 6-0. Audrey Bergeron dispatched Cayla Baker at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2, to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead, setting the table for Ricker and Blaisdell.

“We were getting really nervous because we wanted it to end so badly,” Ricker said.

In a rarity, Lewiston No. 1 Chantalle Lavertu completed her match against Hannah Johnston (a 6-0, 6-0 affair) before No. 2 Julia Bergeron even thought of being finished with the Rams’ Margaret Johnston. A match that ended 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) in Julia Bergeron’s favor, it lasted nearly three hours.

“There were times, when no one had won yet, I was so nervous,” Julia said. “Then, everyone else won, so I relaxed, and I won (the first set). Then, Chantalle came on and I heard that the boys won 5-0. I knew Chantalle was going to win, and I was like, ‘Oh no, we can’t go 4-1 if the boys are going to go 5-0,’ so I started choking again.”

As for next year?

The girls lose four seniors, while the boys, who had three freshmen on this year’s squad, graduate just two

“Hopefully next year, it’s seven in a row,” McDonough said.