The Lewiston girls’ tennis team shows off the Class A North regional championship plaque after defeating Brunswick 3-2 at Colby College in Waterville on Wednesday. (Submitted photo)

WATERVILLE — The pressure mounted Wednesday on Court 2 at Colby College in the girls’ tennis Class A North regional final.

Brunswick’s No. 2 singles player, Lea Scrapchansky, and Lewiston’s Julia Svor were in a back-and-forth battle, neither willing to give an inch even as matches on both sides of them ended.

Svor saved her best for last, rallying in both sets for a 6-4, 6-4 victory and a 3-2 match win for the top-seeded Blue Devils.

Svor watched as her sister, Abby, fall to Brunswick’s Anna Parker, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1 singles to get the Dragons on the board.

Twenty minutes later, Brunswick tied the match as Sara Scrapchansky pulled out a hard-fought, 6-4, 6-3 win over Lewiston’s Roslynn Wailus at No. 3 singles.

“I felt like I had a lot of pressure, but I was up one set,” said Julia Svor, who rallied for a 4-1 deficit in the opening set by winning the final five games. “I had to play at my own pace and just move through with the ball and make her run.

“I didn’t want to let my team down. I had to pull it through for the team. As a freshman, it is really exciting to be where I am today.”

“My heart was pounding, and you just want to keep cheering the opponent and your team,” said Brunswick’s first-year coach, Mary Kunhardt, whose Dragons finished the season with a 13-2 record. “It was so up and down. All the girls did good, and all came in with their best game today.”

“Brunswick only had one loss coming in and it was to us, so this was like starting a whole new season, and I expected this. I just wished it wouldn’t have been this close,” longtime Blue Devils (15-0) coach Anita Murphy said.

Lewiston faces either Falmouth or Portland on Saturday at Lewiston High School for the Class A state title. Matches are scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m.

Strong doubles

The Blue Devils wasted little time grabbing a 2-0 lead, with both doubles teams rolling. Maddy Foster and Molly Chicoine gave Lewiston the first point with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Abby Parke and Zoe Battle at No. 1 doubles.

Moments later, No. 2 doubles pair Amy Sperandio and Jill Pelletier defeated Brunswick’s Erin Coughlin and Ella Perham, 6-4, 6-0.

The focus shifted to singles, with all three first sets taking nearly an hour.

Parker broke Abby Svor’s serve for a 4-3 lead, held and then broke again to finish a 6-3 first set. It was a break while leading 3-2 that allowed Parker to take control of the second set.

This was the third meeting between the No. 1 singles pair, with Parker winning the final two.

“She is a really good player, great ground strokes, but those last two matches with her I focused on my game and getting into a groove,” Parker said after her 6-3, 6-2 victory. “You have to grit your teeth and bare it.”

Sara Scrapchansky and Wailus battled in the opening set. Trailing 5-4 and serving, Wailus twice saved set point, but ultimately fell, 6-4. In the second set, Sara Scrapchansky broke at 4-3, then beat Wailus on her second match point opportunity for a 6-4, 6-3 win.

“It was great because I only beat her once out of the three times that I played her,” Sara Scrapchansky said. “Today, even though we lost as a team, everyone played well and put in their best effort. Lea played well, and I love my older sister.”

Julia Svor led the second set 5-3, but Lea Scrapchansky broke to stay alive. From there, the Lewiston freshman won four straight points to break and win the match for her team of jubilant players.

“I said to Julia before the match that you might be the hero here,” Murphy said. “You would think that getting older, it would get easier in these tense matches.

“I am probably a bit more relaxed, but this is such a young crew, and I knew if they didn’t pull this out that they would have three more years.”

Added Kunhardt: “I am super proud of these girls because they worked hard, being the underdog coming into the season with all of our seniors gone. Next year, we will basically be the same team. Against Lewiston, we won one more match each time. Next time, we will have to see.”

Lewiston’s Jill Pelletier, left, and Emma Paquette receive the Class A North regional championship plaque Wednesday after defeating Brunswick 3-2 at Colby College in Waterville. (Bob Conn/Brunswick Times Record)

Lewiston’s Jill Pelletier, left, and Emma Paquette, center, and coach Anita Murphy receive the Class A North regional championship plaque after defeating Brunswick 3-2 at Colby College in Waterville on Wednesday. (Submitted photo)