LEWISTON — Given the turnover rate in high school athletics, and particularly in a sport like tennis with so few varsity members playing in any given match, it can be difficult to develop chemistry where it’s needed most — among the doubles teams.

Especially on a team as deep as Lewiston’s.

But, perhaps because of the team’s depth rather than in spite of it, the Blue Devils have developed a winning tradition there, especially in the top doubles position.

“If there’s a match where I’m missing a singles player, usually, I’ll move my No. 8 girl into that spot and keep my doubles teams together,” Lewiston girls’ coach Anita Murphy said. “It helps keep that chemistry.”

It’s hard to argue with success.

The Blue Devils — both the boys’ and girls’ teams — will look to keep impressive win streaks alive Saturday as both vie for the Class A state crown. The girls are in search of their fifth consecutive title, while the boys haven’t lost since this year’s seniors were fifth-graders, a run of seven state championships.

“It’s no secret, success for us has always started with doubles,” Murphy said.

Opposites attract

The top doubles tandem on the boys’ team at Lewiston has been a study in rotation of players in recent years. But, coach Ron Chicoine points out, there’s always a reason for the pairing.

This year, Alex Chicoine and Jon McDonough hold down the top honors in doubles, a pair of players who couldn’t be any different.

“I like to think he has the power, and I can retrieve the ball better,” McDonough said. “It works really well, and we have that chemistry, too, because we know each other outside of just playing tennis together.”

While the Blue Devils have had continued success as a team, perhaps equally impressive is the fact that during their run of seven titles and nearly 120 consecutive victories, the top doubles team — no matter which players competed in that position — is also unbeaten.

“You can win without doubles, but you need awesome singles to do it,” Chicoine said. “But doubles, my father always used to say it, too, you need doubles to win in big matches.”

Depth has a lot to do with it. Alex Chicoine is just shy of cracking the team’s singles rankings, and McDonough isn’t far behind.

And despite being so close to reaching singles play, both players said they’d prefer to be a doubles player.

“I love doubles, I like much more than I like singles,” Chicoine said, “and i think where I am on the team is best for the team overall, for sure.”

“We like how we can lean on each other,” McDonough said. “When you’re out there by yourself, it’s a tougher game. When you’re playing doubles, you have someone out there who can help pick you up.”

Familiarity breeds success

Knowing what your partner on the court is going to do before they do it helps in doubles. It can be difficult to develop that consistency and knowledge in a short spring season.

Unless, of course, you develop it over three spring seasons.

Becca Lessard and Jessica Bowen have had that opportunity.

“We’ve played together, on the same doubles teams, since eighth grade,” Bowen said. “It helps to know where each other is on the court. It’s such a big difference, and it gives you confidence.”

“And we play every sport together. We do soccer, cheering and tennis together,” Lessard said. “I know where she’s going. She knows where I’m going. We know how to move together.”

As freshmen and again as sophomores, by the luck of the ladder draw and simply by playing to their ability, Bowen and Lessard were paired together in doubles.

Now, as juniors, they’ve again emerges as the team’s top tandem, a position that has its own tradition develop as the Devils’ wins have piled up.

“We knew, freshmen year, we were going to be together, and last year, we knew we were going to be together, and this year we were like, ‘Yep, it’s going to be the same,'” Lessard said.

“It’s so important to have strong doubles,” Murphy emphasized. “We can always start there with the team and work from there. And I think having a deeper team, these girls could play singles for a lot of other schools, and that always helps, especially the top doubles team, especially when they work so well together.”

Final test

The Lewiston girls and boys will both cap another potential unbeaten season with a state title match Saturday.

The girls will square off against Gorham. The Rams avenged a 3-2 regular-season loss to No. 1 Portland with a 3-2 victory in the Western Class A final. Two of the Rams’ three singles players advanced into the MPA singles round of 16. Abby Blaisdell of Lewiston fell in three sets to Gorham’s top player, Natalie Egbert, the No. 6 seed, early in the tournament, and Lewiston No. 1 Emilie Cloutier got by the Rams’ No. 2 player, Hannah Shorty, in the round of 16.

“The girls were talking to each other about their matches,” Murphy said. “Gorham is a good team and we’re anticipating a really good match.”

The boys’ match will be a familiar sight. Last year, Windham nearly upended Lewiston in the state final, a match that came down to a third set in the deciding contest. The Eagles again breezed through Western Class A this season, with nearly an identical lineup.

Lewiston has made wholesale changes due to graduation losses. Still, the Blue Devils escaped Eastern Class A unscathed. This time, though, the sledding may be a bit tougher.

And both squads know that while the glory often follows the singles players, the key to continuing their impressive streaks is going to rest in the hands of the doubles players.

“We have two new teams playing doubles now,” Chicoine said, “and I don’t think we’ve lost at No. 1 doubles in a playoff match since I’ve been here. We came about as close as we could last year, so the doubles are key, and then you somehow still have to come up with at least one singles win.”