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Falmouth’s Matt Morneault stopped a family streak at the state singles tennis championships this spring.

His mother, Erin, who graduated from Cape Elizabeth High, was one of the five Maine high school players at the time to reach four state singles finals. Unfortunately for Erin (then Wentworth), another of those players was Cony’s Anna Chai, who defeated Erin in four consecutive state finals between 1991 and 1994.

Then Matt Morneault reached the boys singles final as a freshman last year but lost to George Cutone of Kennebunk. Finally, the family fortunes changed this spring when Morneault returned to the singles final and defeated Will Meyer of Camden Hills 6-3, 6-4 to win the state championship. A month later he helped the Navigators to their third straight Class A title.

Morneault has earned another title for his outstanding season: Varsity Maine Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

“They were so stoked,” Morneault said of his family’s reaction to his singles title. “I think the most happiest people were my grandparents … my mother’s parents, they were the happiest.”

He said his grandmother even joked before the match, “Don’t do what you did last year,” referring to his 6-0, 6-0 loss to Cutone.

Falmouth coach Jamie Hilton said Morneault definitely felt the importance of his match with Meyer, even after winning the first set.

“In between the sets he’s like, ‘I’m nervous,'” Hilton said. “Myself and the other assistant coaches are like, ‘you’re nervous?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, usually I settle in after a few games,’ but he goes, ‘I think it’s a state championship.’ So it’s interesting that even though, as good as is, he still gets nervous to play these matches. So I think it means a lot to him.”

Hilton said Morneault was eager for the season, especially given how the state singles tournament finished in 2024. Before playing George Cutone in the final, Morneault survived a long duel with Cutone’s younger brother, Alberto, in the semifinals.

“He played a great match,” Hilton said of the semifinals. “Three sets in about three hours, and it’s hot. Then he had to go straight from playing the younger brother to the older brother. So I think there was a little redemption tour this year to prove that he’s the best in the state.”

Morneault finished this season undefeated (13-0) and didn’t lose a set. His dominance was aided by an improved backhand.

“During the high school season, I’d say my backhand just overall became more solid,” Morneault said. “I was playing like every single day, and I was just getting reps in and grinding out there, just trying to get better, and my backhand used to be not as much of a weapon, and it used to be pretty bad, to be honest.

“When people were (preparing) to play against me they’d say, ‘Just hit to my backhand,’ and I still think some people do that, and some people think that going into the match, so I’m just glad my backhand has gotten better and I can trust it in these matches.”

Morneault wants to follow in his mother’s footsteps and compete at a Division I college — she played at Columbia.

Hilton said Morneault is on that path.

“Like our assistant coach, Eric Blakeman — he played at NYA, never lost a high school match and went to Northwestern and he says Matt’s abilities are on par with his when he was in high school,” Hilton said. “So I think there’s potential. And he’s obviously put the work in. He used to be a soccer player and he’s given up soccer to concentrate on tennis.”

Blakeman, by the way, was the third Maine high school player to reach four state finals, winning all four from 1987 to 1990.

But before potentially going on to bigger things in tennis, Morneault is enjoying playing with his Falmouth teammates.

“High school tennis is really fun,” Morneault said. “It’s a good group of guys. I enjoy hanging out, team dinners, and all the stuff with them. It’s a good accomplishment.”

Finishing on top just adds to the fun.

“Our team won the championship and I got the singles state title,” Morneault said. “So I guess it’s kind of a dream performance.”