Dirigo
Coach: Kathy Crutchfield (first year)
Conference: MVC; Class: C
Last year’s results: 3-6 (finished eighth in Class C South)
Returning athletes: Senior — Carleen Hutchinson; Sophomores — Alyssa McTyre, Adrianna Belskis
Key Losses: Gina Kubesh, Brittany Greig, Foram Bhatt, Greta Freiburger, Sophia Jacques, Thavincee Panyanonwat.
Promising newcomers: Sophomores — Alexis Holman, Emily Jamison, Ashley Leavitt; Freshmen — Page Leuders, Elizabeth White.
Season outlook: The Cougars have a very young and inexperienced team starting the season. Definitely a rebuilding year with all the young, new athletes on the roster, but with that said there is a very exciting future for the Cougars. Coach Crutchfield looks forward to watching them improve each and every match.
Edward Little
Coach: Kim Clark (fourth year)
Conference: KVAC; Class: A
Last year’s record: 1-11
Returning athletes: Seniors — Ridwan Hussein, Anab Farah; Juniors — Ester Chen, Mikaela Scott, Janvi Patel, Nasro Adow, Ava Weaver; Sophomores — Emily Torres.
Key Losses: Khadro Adow, Alexis Bellefleur, Yasmin Farah
Promising newcomers: Freshmen— Molly Vincent, Caroline Tracey.
Season outlook: The girls have been working really hard on and off the court year-round. They have enough talent to earn a playoff spot this year. The Red Eddies will be a team to watch this season.
Hebron Academy
Coach: Colin Griggs (seventh season)
Conference: MAISAD
Last year’s results: 7-2 (7-0 in MAISAD – sixth straight league title)
Returning athletes: Juniors — Tounarouze El Yazidi, Leah Bonis, Emma Xu, Hina Koharazawa, Kirari Nakai
Promising newcomers: Junior — Saga Stenberg; Sophomore — Ines Rocci; Freshman — Alaina Bonis.
Season Outlook: The girls’ tennis team at Hebron has established itself as the top team in the MAISAD for the past six years. The Lumberjacks have not lost a league match dating back to April 2013. With 29 straight wins in MAISAD competition and the top five players from the 2017 team returning, the Lumberjacks should be favored to repeat as league champions again this spring. In addition to the five returning juniors, three new players will compete for spots at third singles and first doubles, so the entire roster will be strong from top to bottom once again this season. Coach Griggs is excited to see what will happen with their two matches outside of the MAISAD with Brewster and Berwick.
Lewiston
Coach: Anita Murphy (40th year)
Conference: KVAC; Class: A
Last year’s results: 13-2 (Lost in the regional final)
Returning athletes: Senior — Hope Bowen; Juniors — Jillian Pelletier, Emma Paquette, Sophomores — Maddy Foster, Molly Chicoine, Roslynn Wailus.
Key losses: Maddie LeBlond, Lizzy Michaud, Chloe Morin, Zahara Shidad.
Promising newcomers: Sophomore — Amelie Sperandio; Freshmen: Abby Svor, Julia Svor, Julia Paquette, Emma Begin, Lauren Foster.
Season Outlook: After losing four of the top seven varsity players, Coach Murphy is looking forward to work with some new talent coming in. They are very excited to begin practices as they look at making the playoffs while having fun. Despite the turnover, the Blue Devils will remain competitive this season.
Lisbon
Coach: Georgia Ahlers
Conference: MVC Class: C
Last year’s results: 0-10
Returning athletes: Sophmores — Vanessa Wasielewski, Madi Valcourt.
Key losses: Jennifer Violet
Season outlook: Coach Ahlers is looking forward to having a fun building year. She has a couple kids returning from last year who are looking great. She has plenty of beginners who are working hard to improve their game.
Mountain Valley
Coach: Larissa Wing (second year)
Conference: MVC; Class: B
Last year’s results: 2-8
Returning athletes: Senior — Brooke Carver; Juniors — Sarah Cunningham, Abbey Duguay; Sophomores — Abigail Gauvin, Phoenix Hughes.
Key losses: Emma Somers, Natalie Richard, Jillian Provencher.
Promising newcomers: Junior — Kylee Pelletier; Sophomores — Alina Furbeth, Avery Sevigny; Freshmen — Michaela Beauchesne, Kierstyn Lyons, Madison Russell, Rylee Sevigny, Lily Duguay.
Season outlook: Mountain Valley is looking forward to a great season as the team has nearly doubled in size this year, filled with enthusiastic and determined players. The Falcons are looking forward to build momentum from last year. With promising new comers and seasoned veteran players, they hope to battle for a playoff spot.
Mt. Blue
Coach: Judy Upham, (19th year)
Conference: KVAC Class: A
Last year’s results: 8-4 (Won quarterfinal match and lost to Lewiston in the semifinals)
Returning athletes: Seniors — Grace McIntosh, Brianna Jackson; Juniors — Mariel Damon, Hallie Pike, Maeve Hickey, Katie Remick, Leahannah Ridley; Sophomores — Bailey Levesque, Mazie Gordon, Sophia Pires.
Key losses: Hannah LeClair, Addie Schanz
Promising newcomers: Freshmen — Kelsey Dorman, Haley Walsh.
Season outlook: Once again practices this season started indoors in the gymnasiums. They have to get creative, as this does not fully equate to the real game of tennis. They have some very good returning players. Developing doubles teams will be a priority. They hope to have a strong enough team to once again be in the top four in Class A North.
Oak Hill
Coach: Liz Tibbetts (sixth year)
Conference: MVC; Class: B
Last year’s results: 6-4 (Fourth in Class B South)
Returnering athletes: Junior — Mackenzie Thibeault; Sophomore — Kathryn Blais.
Key losses: Dayna Conant, Alicen Gilbert, Savannah Poulin, Keirra Rolston, Cassidy Tibbetts, Samantha Weeks.
Promising newcomers: Seniors — Michaela Gervais, Francesca Natali; Juniors — Rachel Gilbert, Kaylei Robichaud, Hayley Salger; Sophomore — Autumn Brown.
Season outlook: This team has potential to do well this season with many promising new players who are highly motivated to play and ready to learn. With only two reurning players, the Raiders will look towards Thibeault and Blais to provide stability as the younger players get up to speed.
Spruce Mountain
Coach: Jeremy Gath (second year)
Conference: MVC Class: B
Last year’s results: 0-12
Returning athletes: Seniors — Tanna Herlihy, Ryle Delaney; Junior — Natalie Luce, Abby Redman; Sophomore — Annebelle Collins
Key losses: Evelyn Castonguay.
Season outlook: The Phoenix in a new conference this season, and have a much larger team with a lot of enthusiasm. The girls are looking forward to the season and hopefully scoring a few wins this year.
St. Dom’s
Coach: Andrew Girouard (fourth year).
Conference: WMC; Class: C
Last year’s results: 10-5 (7th in Class C South; lost in Class C South Finals)
Returning athletes: Sophomore – Avery Greco.
Key losses: Laurel Christopher, Bethany Hammond, Clare Kramer, Rachel Kurtz, KK Linck, Hannah Phelan, Kassaundra Stacy
Promising newcomers: Juniors – Sophia Comis, Bailey Derocher, Kylie Leavitt; Sophomores – Zoe Crump, Emily French, Karitha St. Jean
Season outlook: The Saints graduated their three-year starting lineup. Though they will be a young team, they are eager to learn and improve, and if they can earn enough regular-season Heals, could be up for another run in the playoffs.
Winthrop
Coach: Jess Merrill (fifth season)
Conference: MVC Class: C
Last year’s results: 11-2 (Second in in Class C South)
Returning athletes: Juniors — Nora Conrad, Bre Feeney, Aiva Agri, Sam Neumann; Sophomores — Natalie Frost, Gabby Blanco, Kelsie Canwell.
Key losses: Megan Chamberland, Sarah Spahr, Corinna Coulton.
Promising newcomers: Sophomores — Alexis Emery; Freshmen — Hannah Duley, Dana Lesko, Brooklyn Gaghan.
Season outlook: They expect to be competitive within their conference again this year, but have three singles positions to fill. The girls are transitioning their mindsets to fill these roles. Look for Conrad, Blanco and Frost to lead that list. The Ramblers have a lot of youth with athleticism and experience from the doubles teams coming back. Once the younger players develop their mechanics and match sense, they expect the finish strong.
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