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LEWISTON — For three years, the Camden Hills girls tennis team looked for a way to beat Brunswick in the Class A North final.

On Monday, the Windjammers finally did.

Thanks to a 6-4, 7-5 win in second doubles by Corynn Prescott and Abby Aldridge-Peacock over Bella Farkas and Sophia Robertson, top-seeded Camden Hills secured a 4-1 win over No. 3 Brunswick at the Wallach Tennis Center at Bates College.

“This has been a long time coming; for a long time, the result wasn’t the same,” said Camden Hills senior Charlotte Delehey, who beat Elise Meserve 6-3, 6-2 in second singles. “We’ve lost this every single year. But this year was special, with a special team, capping off an undefeated season (heading into the state final).”

It was a welcome change for the Windjammers (15-0), who lost to the Dragons (11-4) each of the past three seasons in the regional final.

Camden Hills will face Falmouth — which captured the A South title earlier in the day with a 3-2 win over Thornton Academy — in the Class A final on Wednesday in Lewiston. The Navigators (15-0) were led by state singles champion Sofia Kirtchev, who picked up a 6-2, 6-0 win in first singles over Lilia Root of Thornton Academy.

In the late afternoon, Lincoln Academy beat Yarmouth, 4-1, to capture its first B South championship since 2022. In Class C South, Maranacook topped undefeated North Yarmouth Academy, 4-1.

Here are some other takeaways from the Maine regional girls tennis championships:

Reversing the curse

If you were to ask any of the older members of the Camden Hills team, the regional-final losing streak to Brunswick, dating back to 2022, was something beyond bad luck.

“Every single year, we’ve said, ‘This is our year, this is our year,'” Delehey said. “But this year, we knew our roster was deeper than ever. We knew we were deep all the way through our 12 spots on varsity. The mindset has changed from, ‘Don’t lose,’ to winning.

“You mention the curse, it’s been there for a few years now. I think there was a bit of nerves coming into the day, given that our first match (against Brunswick during the season) was a 5-0 sweep, and later on, it was much closer at 3-2. Today, we were nervous, but we all told each other, ‘This is ours.'”

The Windjammers jumped out early and won the first three matches, as Atalanta Roberts beat Lila Patient 6-0, 6-4 in third singles, and the team of Rana Abess and Olive Van Hoewyk — the state champion in doubles — beat Olivia Patient and Izzy Leitzell 6-2, 6-2 in first doubles, then the team of Prescott and Aldridge-Peacock sealed the team victory.

Fashion statement

Brunswick did pick up a victory over Camden Hills in first singles, as Molly Tefft defeated Hattie Moss, 7-5, 6-3, in the most competitive, longest match of the afternoon.

It was the third time this season Tefft and Moss met each other on the court. The pair split wins during the regular season.

“I’ve gotten to know her weakness and her strengths (throughout the season), and I felt good about today because I had won the previous match,” Tefft said. “I knew that I could (win) and I knew I had the momentum going in. Strategy-wise, I targeted her backhand a lot. I kept going up to net and stayed strong up there because I’m good at volleying.”

Tefft and her teammates sported the most interesting look of the afternoon at regionals: Temporary dragon tattoos on their arms. Tefft gave credit to Leitzell for the idea.

“We just wanted to do something fun for regionals, because it’s always fun every year,” Teft said. “I think (the tattoos) came from Amazon; you just stick them on with a wet rag.”

Watch your back

A lot went well for Yarmouth duo Lila McNaughton and Barbara Day in their 6-0, 6-2 win over Oliva Crooker and Meara McManus in first doubles.

“Both of us were hitting really good, deep shots today,” McNaughton said.

“We’ve been playing together forever, and we’re pretty in-sync with one another,” Day added.

But the pair did have one humorous moment during their victory. As Day, playing near the service line, hit a return, she accidentally sent the ball flying toward McNaughton, whose eyes were focused on their opponents on the other side of the court. Day’s return hit McNaughton in the back.

It’s not the first time the pair have been on the wrong side of each other’s shots.

“It’s definitely not our first time; it happens a lot when you’re serving,” McNaughton said. “Now, when (Day) is serving, I move especially far away, so I don’t get hit. Some people crouch really far down (to avoid getting hit by a serve). People are used to getting hit, it happens.”

Tough assignment for grads

Falmouth’s three senior co-captains all graduated on Sunday evening and participated in Project Graduation. Despite the busy weekend, Falmouth still won the Class A South title.  The No. 1 doubles team of Gwen Long and Carley Iannetta led the way with a decisive 6-0, 6-0 win.

Project Graduation is a night-long experience following graduation where graduates participate in fun activities and games with their graduating class, often their last time all being gathered together.

“(The match) could have gone either way. We just graduated last night and then went to project grad. So we got four hours of sleep. So the bus at 6:45 in the morning was tough,” Long said.

Fellow senior captain Addie Morneault emphasized the difficult nature of play after such a long night. Morneault played on the second doubles team along with freshman Helena Nelson, falling to Thornton Academy in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

“(Project Graduation) was definitely fun. I don’t think I’ve processed that I’ve graduated yet. But my stomach was a little bit upset off of so little sleep,” Morneault said. “But my partner was awesome. She kind of carried it. I was like, ‘I might need you on this one’, and she was like ‘I got you.’”

That championship feeling

Maranacook will play for its second championship in three years. Three of the Black Bears playing Monday — Claire Dwyer, Ava Candage and Molly Woodford — were on the team that beat Washington Academy to win the 2023 Class C title.

“It’s a little different, because I’m older now,” said Candage, who teamed with Leah Hildebrant for a 6-4, 6-2 win at first doubles. “But it’s the same exact excitement. I’m probably more excited because this is my last season.”

Candage said falling short last year, when Maranacook fell to Waynflete 4-1 in the regional final, sharpened the Black Bears’ desire to get back.

“Getting the taste of winning states my sophomore year, and then losing in my junior year, it definitely makes this experience so much more special.”

The experience, Candage said, helped the Black Bears topple an undefeated Panthers team. Maranacook got wins from Dwyer (No. 1, 6-1, 6-3), Julia Thaller (No. 3, 6-4, 6-4) and the second doubles team of Woodford and Lilly Brosey (6-3, 6-0). NYA’s Eleanor Zuiches won when her opponent retired at No. 2 singles.

“We were just ready to play,” Candage said. “I think it’s pretty tough coming in confident, because in the tennis world you hear a lot of gossip, and you’re like, ‘Is this team better than us?’ … But we were pretty united coming into today.”