LEWISTON – The Lewiston girls survived a mild scare and the boys cruised without their regular No. 1 player in the lineup, sending both Blue Devils’ teams into the Eastern Regional semifinals in matches at the Franklin courts Thursday.
The girls’ first doubles team of Jessica Roy and Katie Nadeau recovered from a sluggish start to the second set and upended Katie Stevens and Doreh Taghavidinani 6-1, 6-3, to ice the match in just more than one hour.
“It never comes down to us,” said Roy. “We had a ton of unforced errors early in the second set, and that’s where they got all of their points.”
“We knew it would be up to us right about then,” added Nadeau, “but we never let ourselves feel a lot of pressure. We just go out and have a good time.”
At that point, it looked as though Messalonskee would take the remaining two points. As the first doubles team finished, Lewiston No. 1 Roxanne Healey was down a set, and No. 2 Katelyn Ouellette was down 1-4 in the second set after losing the first set 3-6.
Ouellette rallied, though, winning 11 of the next 12 games to upend Lindsey Ford 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, putting the exclamation point on the Blue Devils’ win.
“I was so upset after the first set,” said Ouellette. “I had beaten her before pretty easy. At 4-1 down, I just had to stop it. I told myself she wasn’t going to get another game. I started hitting to the corners and coming to net better.”
As expected, Messalonskee sophomore Deahna Giguere took the Eagles’ lone point at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Healey. Twins Julia and Audrey Bergeron got the afternoon started with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win over Emily Buschbaum and Casey Pawlich at No. 2 doubles, followed closely by Ashley McWhorter’s win over Bethany Chapin at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-0.
“We were watching the doubles match closely,” said Messalonskee coach Caroline Mathes. “They would have had to split sets, and they almost did, but they made a change and went to Australian-style doubles, and the Lewiston girls eventually adjusted. We knew this was going to be a tough match.”
Devils burn Witches
With top player Adam Wilding watching as a spectator Thursday, the eighth player on the Blue Devils’ depth chart, Matt Letourneau, got the call to play No. 3 singles. Letourneau proved just how deep the Blue Devils’ lineup really is, winning against Brewer’s Scott Helmke without dropping a game to ice a 5-0 Lewiston win.
“I was a bit nervous at first,” said Letourneau, “but after I got through that first game, I was OK.”
Mike Sarrazin, normally the team’s No. 3, played at No.2 and also won, 6-2, 6-2, and James Morin, playing at No. 1, won in straight sets to finish off the match.
“I didn’t tell (Letourneau) that he was playing until the last minute,” said Lewiston boys’ coach Ron Chicoine, who decided to sit Wilding for unspecified reasons. “I expect them all to come ready to play, and he proved that he was.”
The No. 1 doubles team of Nick Bonenfant and Dave Labonte breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Paul Gervais and Alex White, while Casey Poussard and Devyn Cote upended Jesse and Craig Hatch 6-1, 6-2.
“We had to get out there early and set the pace,” said Bonenfant, who then turned the attention to his partner. “At the beginning of the year, to be honest, I was a little worried when a shot went to Dave that was hit hard, because he had never really played in high school, but now it’s like he’s been here the whole time. There is a trust there now, which is cool.”
Both the boys and the girls will square off with Brunswick in the Eastern Maine semifinals this afternoon at Franklin courts at 2:30.
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