WATERVILLE — Falmouth completed its fourth consecutive perfect season with a fifth straight Class B state title, beating Waterville 5-0 at Colby College on Saturday afternoon.

Also Saturday, Brunswick beat previously unbeaten McAuley 3-2 to win their first state title since 1998 and Waynflete beat George Stevens Academy 3-2.

In Class B, Falmouth (16-0) has been in high gear since early May of 2008, when the girls began a winning streak that reached 77 Saturday morning.

Seniors Annie Criscione (6-1, 6-1) and Analise Kump (6-1, 6-0) led a singles sweep that included freshman Olivia Leavitt (6-0, 6-0) and gave the seniors a four-year team mark of 64-0.

“Very bittersweet,” Criscione said after coming off the court. “Very happy about the win, but I’m really sad it’s over. I wish we could come back next year.”

Falmouth also swept doubles by identical scores of 6-2, 6-1 with Abby Payson and Steffi Rothweiler at No. 1 and Katie Ryan and Marlena Lantos at No. 2.

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“It’s been a special group of girls,” said Falmouth coach Sandy Stone, who graduates five seniors. “They went 2-3-4 in state singles and first and second in Western Maine Conference doubles. When am I ever going to have a team like that again?”

Coach Jill Cristan of Waterville (15-1) said her team looked forward to the challenge of meeting Falmouth again for the state title.

“We love playing them,” she said. “It’s totally different tennis from our regular season. They pace the ball differently. They’re hard-hitting and it’s great tennis.”

Noting the four seniors in Falmouth’s starting lineup to only one for the Purple Panthers, Cristan said she looks forward to next spring.

“We still have a young team,” she said. “Our score here didn’t truly reflect our play. We were in there on every point.”

In Class A, state singles champion Maisie Silverman provided the clincher for Brunswick (16-0) after the Dragons swept doubles. It took more than an hour, but Silverman put away Addie Devine of McAuley (15-1) by a score of 6-0, 6-1.

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“She was getting all my shots back,” Silverman said. “It was definitely a battle. But I really wanted to win it for the team. It feels great because everyone can celebrate together.”

Brunswick sophomores Leah Soloway and Samiera MacMullen were first off the courts with a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles. McAuley freshmen Devri Ramsey and Ally Strawn continued their unbeaten seasons in team competition with straight-set victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

Brunswick coach Rob Manter figured he could count on a victory from Silverman, so he needed a doubles sweep. Seeing Alexa Rivers and Gillian Ford down 5-4 in the first didn’t faze him.

“I know they sometimes start a little slow,” he said. “They both have strong personalities with aggressive games. It just took them a little while to get it in gear.”

Rivers and Ford reeled off nine of their next 10 games to win 7-5, 6-1.

In Class C, Waynflete (11-5) clinched its second straight state title with straight-set victories by sophomore Emily White (6-3, 6-1) and senior Hilary Niles (6-0, 6-3) in singles and junior Abby Cough and sophomore Sophie Raffel (6-2, 6-1) at No. 2 doubles.

George Stevens (14-3) won in three sets at No. 1 doubles and, after surviving one match point, at No. 2 singles, where GSA sophomore Charlotte Reiter and Waynflete senior Emily Trafton agreed to play a 10-point tiebreaker after splitting sets because the overall outcome was no longer in doubt.

Reiter won, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-6.

“They really gelled as a team,” said Waynflete coach Linda Cohen, whose squad rebounded from an 0-3 start to the season. “The two who lost said if they had to, they would have won, but I guess we’ll never know. I’m just really proud of all of them.”


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