HAMPDEN — Before a match was even played, the Waterville and Camden Hills girls tennis teams were on the road. A quick but powerful rain shower made the courts at the University of Maine unplayable 45 minutes before the scheduled Class B North championship match. Maine Principals’ Association officials scrambled to find open courts at the Armstrong Tennis Center, an indoor facility in Hampden.
The short drive from Orono to Hampden was nothing to the Windjammers, who made the long trek to Aroostook County to play their semifinal match.
“We traveled to Presque Isle the other day, so that was nothing,” Camden Hills senior Katie Vannorsdall said.
For the second time in the playoffs, the Windjammers knocked off a previously undefeated opponent, taking a 5-0 win from Waterville to claim the Class B North crown. The Windjammers, who beat previously undefeated Caribou in the regional semifinals, improved to 13-2 and will face either York or Cape Elizabeth in the state championship Saturday at Lewiston High School.
Waterville finished 14-1.
After the teams — along with the Camden Hills and Caribou boys — made the short drive from Orono to Hampden, the matches started a half hour late. With just two courts available for girls matches, first and second singles played first to accommodate seniors from both schools who had to get home for senior week events.
In first singles, Waterville’s Emma Cristan and Camden’s Jana Spicker played a back-and-forth first set, with Spicker taking a 7-6 win with a 9-7 victory in the tiebreaker. The second set was all Spicker, who took a 6-1 win to claim the match.
After the match, Cristan was icing an ankle injury suffered in the Purple Panthers’ semifinal win over John Bapst on Saturday.
“She’s been icing it for a few days,” Waterville coach Jill Cristan, Emma’s mother, said, adding she was unsure on the specifics of the injury.
At second singles, Vannorsdall and Waterville’s Sammi Saulter opened their three-set match with a tight first set, won by Saulter 7-6 (5).
“The first set’s always the hardest, especially with an opponent equal to me,” Vannorsdall said. “I found that I needed to work on my approach shot and I had to be consistent.”
Vannorsdall won the second set, 6-4, before pulling away in the third set, 6-2, for the victory.
“I love third sets. I’m a cross country runner, so I love endurance,” Vannorsdall said.
The Windjammers clinched the win when Vivian Priestly and Charlotte Messer took a 6-2, 6-3 win in second doubles over Madeline Greene and Sofie Weston.
Coach Cristan was pleased with the season her young team, which took the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B title, enjoyed.
“Camden is a great team. We exceeded our expectations for the year. I’m so proud of the girls,” Cristan said.
Camden’s Kelsie Merrill and Kassie Krul won first doubles, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 over Nora Greene and Cristina Ramiro. In a third singles match, Camden’s Naomi Landry dropped the first set to Maggie Brock, 6-2, before winning the second set, 6-3, and the tiebreaker 10-6.
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