POTLAND — Hall-Dale senior captain and No. 1 singles player Wendy Goldman knew the daunting task her team faced Wednesday in the Western C championship against perennial contender Waynflete.

“You know what to expect with them,” Goldman said. “They have good players, good hitters and are always tough to beat.”

The Flyers certainly were Wednesday at The Racket and Fitness Club.

Waynflete won its second consecutive Western C title with a 4-1 victory over No. 1 seed and unbeaten Hall-Dale.

The defending Class C state champs also defeated Hall-Dale in the regional tournament for a third consecutive season.

“We competed as hard as we could,” said Hall-Dale coach Guy Cousins. “We talked about performance. We just got beat by a better team. But it was very entertaining tennis.”

The Flyers beat the Bulldogs in the regional quarterfinals last season by the same 4-1 score. But this showdown was tougher. Hall-Dale lost a three-set match at No. 2 singles and dropped a tight one at No. 1 doubles.

“Hall-Dale is a very good team that can throw you off,” Waynflete coach Linda Cohen said. “They were tough. Their No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles was a lot tougher this year.

“It’s tough because we don’t play them in the regular season so you never really know what to expect.”

Goldman provided the lone Hall-Dale victory in the final match of the day. She defeated Emily White 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

“It was important to end my career with a win,” Goldman said. “Waynflete just has a huge reputation. It’s tough but we played our best. During the second set I had realized that we had lost, and that was tough. I just wanted to finish strong.”

Hall-Dale freshman Clio Barr nearly beat Emily Trafton at No. 2 singles, losing 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

“My opponent was very good,” Barr said. “We were pretty evenly matched. It was quite an intense and enjoyable match.”

The Flyers’ No. 2 doubles team of Abby Cough and Sophie Raffel cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Anais Truman and Maura Stottler. No. 3 singles player Hilary Niles then beat Hall-Dale junior Shelby McGibney 6-0, 6-0.

However, the Bulldogs didn’t go away quietly.

Their No. 1 doubles team of senior Jana Parsons and freshman Nicole Pelletier dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 match to Phoebe Suva and Hanae Miyake.

“Three matches were nailbiters,” said Cohen, whose team improved to 10-5 after an 0-3 start. “We just really wanted to defend our title.”

Added Cousins: “We competed really hard. We had incredibly close matches and two went to three sets.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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