PORTLAND — Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and admit when your opponent is better.

The Winthrop High School girls tennis team put together a strong 2014 campaign, going 9-2 during the regular season and making it to the Western Class C championship.

That, however, is where the fourth-seeded Ramblers’ ride came to an end as they were soundly swept by No. 3 Waynflete 5-0 Thursday at the Racket and Fitness Center.

“They are definitely the better team today and they’re definitely showing it, but I’m really proud of what my girls have done this season,” Winthrop coach Jess Merrill said. “No one really expected us being a fourth seed.”

Merrill had a pretty good idea of what her team was getting into at Thursday’s Western C final.

In the semifinals, the Flyers handily beat No. 2 Hall-Dale — who had beaten Winthrop 4-1 during the regular season — 5-0 and Merrill said she exchanged e-mails with Bulldog coach Guy Cousins in the days leading up to Thursday’s match to get a scouting report on Waynflete.

“They were everything he said that they were going to be,” Merrill said. “…The singles angled their balls well, they have really good serves. Their doubles players are very aggressive at net. Their singles players are very consistent — even their doubles players are consistent — so we knew we had to go in mentally ready and mentally prepared to be in long rallies.”

Even with the insight on Waynflete, there was nothing stopping the Flyers.

“I know that they’re a good team,” Winthrop No. 1 singles player Emma Spahr said. “We just knew we had to fight as hard as we could and I’m still happy with the outcome.”

Allie Armstrong secured Waynflete’s first point by defeating Jess Ames 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, while the No. 1 doubles team of Sophie Raffell and Nina Flight closed out Celeste Hannum and Hayley Choate shortly after, 6-0, 6-3.

Lexi Epstein clinched the Flyers’ state finals berth at No. 2 singles as she won a battle between freshmen, 6-1, 6-0, over Megan Chamberland.

Even after the outcome had been decided, the remaining Ramblers continued to battle — particularly Emma Spahr.

After winning the first game, she went on to drop the next six to lose the first set 6-1 but came back strong in the second set. Even still, she could not force a third game and ultimately dropped the second set to Emily White 6-4.

“This will be my last match personally,” Spahr said, “so I was playing for myself I guess.”

In the final match of the afternoon to conclude, Annika Morrill and Liv Troiano defeated Corinna Coulton and Sarah Spahr 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.

Despite the tough finish, it was still a fantastic tournament for Winthrop that included a 3-2 semifinal victory over top-seeded and previously undefeated St. Dominic.

“To me that was our championship,” Merrill said. “It was really good to see where they were from when we played them the first time and the adjustments that we made and how hungry they were when we played them.

“It meant a lot to me to see them play so well. They never gave up in the match and it was great.”

While most expected to see the Saints in the finals, the Ramblers always had confidence that they could make it out of their slot of the Western C bracket.

“We continue to fight and keep going,” Emma Spahr said. “People don’t expect us to do that.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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