LEWISTON – Adam Wilding looked confident in his familiar No. 1 singles spot on Friday.
James Morin and Mike Sarrazin showed now signs of rookie trepidation at Nos. 2 and 3 as the three singles players lost just four games between them in six sets, leading Lewiston to a 5-0 win over Waterville on the first clear day for tennis in more than a week.
“Just to get out here and get this done was a plus,” said Lewiston coach Ron Chicoine. “I think in singles, our guys really stepped up. They all played good quality players and they didn’t let up.”
Wilding, who is expected to be a top-five seed at this year’s state singles tournament, seemed to struggle at times with his control, especially on his second serve, and those sporadic strokes cost him a perfect match against Waterville No. 1 Mike Harris.
“This year I have a game plan to be more aggressive, especially on my serves,” said Wilding. “I have to be to beat some of the top players in the state, so now I am more experimenting during these matches. It means I’ll end up playing more games, and they won’t always be 0-and-0 wins like maybe they should be, but it’s better for me in the long run.”
In the doubles matches, seniors Nick Bonenfant and Dave LaBonte won the first set against Waterville’s Jack L’Heureux and Derek Grenier easily, and after a short hiccup early in the second, took the second and the win, 6-1, 6-3.
“Nick’s just a winner,” said Chicoine. “He’s only lost one match for me in over two years, and that was a doubles match early in the season against Deering two years ago. He went undefeated at No. 3 singles last year. David, he has the tenacity that he also brought to the basketball court. Those two make a tough doubles team and they’ll be tough to beat in the doubles tournament (today).”
At No. 2 doubles, Matt Letourneau and Casey Poussard, playing together for the first time this season in the absence of a teammate, held off Waterville’s Dave Labbe and Ken Clark 6-3, 6-2.
Sarrazin adapted in his match against Mike Mitchell after trading games early.
“I just had to figure out his style, said the sophomore. “He was a hard hitter, but he made errors, so I changed my game and just kept the ball in play.”
“The was a good matchup for us at this point in the season,” said Waterville coach Jim Begin. “To be able to play the consensus No. 1 team in the division after opening up with a softer schedule, this gives us an idea of where we have to go. We just hadn’t played enough, yet.”
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