Central Maine will be well-represented at today’s Round of 48 boys and girls state singles tennis championships. That’s especially true for the Waterville girls.

All three Waterville singles players — Colleen O’Donnell, Tiffany Suchanek and Olivia Lopes — will be playing today. For O’Donnell and Lopes, both juniors, it’s the third straight time each has qualified for the Round of 48. Suchanek is a freshman.

“They’re all looking really sharp,” Waterville coach Jill Cristan said. “Three strong hitters practicing together every day is a coach’s dream.”

O’Donnell is seeded third and Suchanek fourth. On the boys side, Messalonskee’s Jai Aslam is the No. 9 seed. Today’s matches were originally scheduled for Lewiston High School, but were moved to the Racket & Fitness Center in Portland because of the anticipated rain.

The first matches are scheduled for 8:30 a.m., with an 8 a.m. report time. Lopes is in one of the early-bird matches against Lincoln’s Leslie Sandefur. Lopes said she has seen Sandefur play a couple times, but has not faced her. Either way, she said things were easier last year at the Round of 48 than two years ago.

“My freshman year, I didn’t know what to expect in any way, shape or form,” Lopes said.

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Winthrop’s Amber Pritchard will face Sarah Smith of Calais at 9:45, with the winner facing Suchanek later in the day. O’Donnell will take on the winner of the 11:15 a.m. match between Presque Isle’s Kayla Girardin and Lewiston’s Kirsty Beauchesne.

Mt. Blue has two girls in the singles tournament. Mackenzie Conlogue plays Ellsworth’s Ina Maloney at 9:45 a.m., while Savannah Swain takes on Brewer’s Ashley Gibula at 12:45 p.m. in the last round of first-round matches.

Hall-Dale had two boys qualify for the Round of 48. Spencer Shagoury faces York’s Jack Lawlor at 8:30 a.m., and Derek Vigue will go against Deering’s Tyler Butler at 11:15.

In another 8:30 a.m. match, Monmouth’s Kasey Smith plays Falmouth’s Aiden McGrory. The 12:45 p.m. slate features a pair of central Mainers, as Madison’s Dylan Price goes up against York’s Andrew LaMonica and Maranacook’s Kelby Mace takes on Oceanside’s Cameron Butler.

Oceanside and Maranacook played each other on April 22, but at that time, Butler was No. 1 singles for Oceanside, while Mace played No. 2 singles. Mace said the top two singles matches were going on simultaneously, so he didn’t see Butler play. Asked for his approach today, Mace said, “Just try to be consistent.”

At 11:15, Cony’s Dallas Clark plays Erskine’s Zhong McClure. Clark defeated McClure, 6-4, 6-3, when they met on May 9.

Aslam’s match is scheduled for 2 p.m., when he’ll face the winner of the 8:30 match between North Yarmouth Academy’s Bryce Tetreault and Ellsworth’s Evan Toothaker.

The top seeds for the tournament are the defending champions: Brunswick’s Maisie Silverman and Lincoln’s Jordan Friedland.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com


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