Before her team faced top-ranked and unbeaten Hampden Academy in the Eastern Class A girls tennis semifinals Saturday, Mt. Blue coach Judy Upham told her team it had already overachieved.
At the start of the season, the Cougars’ goal was to make the playoffs. Mt. Blue reached that goal, then upset the Broncos and will face No. 2 Brunswick (14-0), the defending state champion, in the regional finals at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Maine in Orono.
“It didn’t matter where, we just wanted to make the playoffs,” Upham said. “My girls were loose. Now, anything goes.”
The Waterville girls are also playing in an Eastern Maine final Wednesday. The No. 3 Purple Panthers (14-0) take on No. 1 Ellsworth (13-1) at 1 p.m. in Class B, also at the University of Maine. Waterville is playing for its sixth regional title in eight years.
Waterville has lost just one match this season, in a 4-1 win over Mt. Desert Island in the regional quarterfinals. The Panthers advanced to the finals with a 5-0 win over Camden Hills.
Ellsworth’s one loss was early in the regular season to Caribou.
“MDI was tough. That was the kind of match we needed,” Waterville coach Jill Cristan said. “(Ellsworth) played MDI and beat them and MDI gave us our toughest match. We expect Ellsworth to be tough.”
Waterville will go with the same lineup it used against Camden Hills: Colleen O’Donnell, Tiffany Suchanek and Federica Miele at singles, with doubles teams of Lauren Hallenbeck and Jayme Saulter, and Emma Cristan and Emily Dufour.
“Our doubles are really jelling,” Coach Cristan said.
In Brunswick, Upham knows the Cougars face a tough opponent. The Dragons defeated Mt. Blue twice in the regular season, 5-0. Brunswick has a formidable pair at the top of its singles group in Maise Silverman and Ali Stankiewicz.
“We do not feel totally overwhelmed,” Upham said. “Their one and two are tough, but we think the next three (third singles and two doubles matches) could go either way.”
Mt. Blue is led by singles players Mackenzie Conlogue, Makenzie Thompson and Savannah Swain, as well as doubles teams Cassidy Bigos and Alyssa White, and Thia Bridges and Eryn Doiron.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.