Tennis: Waterville girls, Yarmouth boys win Class B championships

Players on the Waterville girls tennis team will hold the championship after defeating Cape Elizabeth in the 3-2 Class B Championship at Lewiston High School. Drew Bonifant / Kennebec Journal

LEWISTON Depth had been the primary weapon on the Waterville girls tennis court all season. On Saturday, it lifted the Purple Panthers to the biggest win of all time.

Waterville won both doubles matches to win Sarah McNeil’s third single, and the Panthers won Cape Elizabeth 3-2 at Lewiston High School in the B-State Championship to get their first history title.

“It’s a world-wide feeling,” said Waterville junior Keira Gilman, part of the first pair of teams along with Karin Zimba, who won 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to get the championship. “I’m full of emotion. It was the hardest match ever. “

It was a similar story in the boys ’match, as Yarmouth also lost the top two singles, but swept the singles and won their third single on the way to a 3-2 win over Waterville. It was the Clippers (15-1) second straight title after winning in 2019.

“We had a very deep team,” Yarmouth coach Bill Shardlow said. “Of all the teams I’ve coached, the talent gap between 1 and 8 is the biggest on this team I’ve ever been on. If you look at our two-player No. 2, they’re good tennis players. We knew our whole season was determined by that.”

Depth has been the backbone of the Waterville girls (16-0), who were dealt only four individual losses, leading to the state finals, none of which came from either Gilman or Zimba’s better dueling team or Hannah Hubbard’s second unit. and Miranda Troy. Waterville had strong players in addition to two first places in Inga Zimba and Amna Sheikh, but Cape Elizabeth (13-2) brought Blair Hollyday and Caroline Gentile, these deeper matches became important.

Watervilles Inga Zimba hits a comeback in her single match against Cape Elizabeth at the B-Class Championship on Saturday at Lewiston High School. Drew Bonifant / Kennebec Journal

“We knew it was coming up that (no) 1 duel was very hard to take,” Waterville coach Devin Lachapelle said. “We knew we’d have to take both singles and probably (not) 3 singles.”

That’s how it played when Gentile won 6-2, 6-2 in the second doubles, but McNeil won 6-4, 6-2 on the third single to help the Panthers level off.

“I knew going in that I had to win my match,” McNeil said. “But I honestly didn’t think about it all that much. I didn’t feel the pressure until 4-2 in the second set.”

As Hollyday was on his way to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 1, the focus shifted to double fields where both matches went three sets. Hubbard and Troy’s second team finished first, winning 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1. In the first Gemini, Gilman and Karin Zimba knew the heat was on.

“It required a lot of concentration, and Karin and I are really good at balancing each other and reassuring each other when it comes to such a big match,” Gilman said. “It helped tons.”

“There’s a lot of pressure,” Karin Zimba said. “You can feel that pressure. It can get you if you don’t keep a clear head and focus. “

He and Gilman made and returned from another defeat to seal the title.

“(The team) played incredibly well,” Lachapelle said. “The fact that both twins were able to really squeeze in and take charge in the third installment was, of course, critical. It was awesome.”

In the boys ’match, Yarmouth dominated from the start, jumping to the big leads in the third duel. The matches ended within minutes of each other; First Andi Cobaj and Miles Hagedorn beat Cole Bazakas and Nick Poulin 6-1, 6-0 in the second doubling, then Quinn Federle beat Josiah Bloom 6-0, 6-3 in the third singles, followed by Sutter Augur and Ethan Lombard winning 6-3, 6-2 in the first four games to get the Clippers championship.

Owen Evans (6-1, 6-3) and quarterfinals of the doubles tournament Charlie Haberstock (6-3, 6-1) won the Panthers (15-1) in Series No. 2 and one single. .

Federle, a sophomore, was particularly sharp in helping Yarmouth build an early leadership position.

“I played really well in the first set, letting him back in the second,” he said. “I just came shooting in the beginning. I think the first set was the best I’ve played this season. “

Federle said the team learned in early spring that it would be a tough team to knock down.

“After the first few matches, we were pretty clearly the team that won,” he said. “I don’t think we really let it get to us.”

They were the team that won, despite seeing most of the 2019 nuclear degree last year.

“We had to build a little this year, a re-tool,” Shardlow said. “None of our three singles had played singles before this year.”

However, the Clippers had depth, but the reconstruction could not have gone smoother.

“We’ve been like that all year,” Shardlow said. “We’re a deep team just grinding it.”

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