The Van Buren girls tennis team won its third consecutive Eastern Maine Class C tennis championship Tuesday.
But it wasn’t as easy as more of the same for Van Buren, which will take an 11-0 record into Saturday’s state final at Lewiston High School against either Waynflete of Portland or North Yarmouth Academy.
Well, perhaps some of it was, at least at the start of the season when coach Leah Levasseur’s team had to wait out winter’s remains before getting outside to play.
“They have three indoor courts in Madawaska, but we haven’t gone there for a couple years or so,” said Courtney Parent, a four-year varsity starter who plays first singles this spring. “In preseason we play in our gym. We just set up some nets and go from there.
“We got outdoors for the first time in late April. I think we had a few outdoor practices before our first game,” she said.
That turned out to be no big deal, as Van Buren won 43 of its 50 individual matches during its relatively short, eight-match, regular season.
Graduation and transfers after last spring left this year’s team in a bit of a rebuilding mode, with two of the top three singles players off to college and a third starter off to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
Finding replacements isn’t automatic in a school with just 89 students, but the team was able to field an eight-player roster with three seniors, one junior, one sophomore and three freshmen, two of whom were in the starting lineup.
“We had to change our lineup a little bit in the beginning to find out where everyone needed to play, but it’s been an amazing ride,” said Levasseur.
The Crusaders benefited from having their three seniors, all veterans of previous championship efforts, provide leadership from the singles positions.
Parent, who played second singles the previous two years, moved up to No. 1, while three-year doubles player Felisha Bouchard moved to second singles and two-year doubles player Isabel Parent, Courtney Parent’s second cousin, stepped in at third singles.
For Bouchard and Isabel Parent, the individuality of singles play required some adjustment.
“It’s a lot different,” said Parent. “I was so used to having my teammate there to console me or me to console her, and when you have that person there with you it’s not all on you.”
“You’re on your own so you’ve got to fight for yourself and learn to fight through it instead of being able to talk with your partner,” added Bouchard.
Junior Alexis Ouellette and freshman Danika Deschaine provided stability at first doubles, with sophomore Lindsey Gendreau and freshman Kaila Roy at second doubles and freshman Emma Lajoie also making key contributions.
“Your doubles have to communicate, and at the beginning of the season, our doubles weren’t communicating,” said Levasseur. “But we got [former Van Buren boys doubles player] Brandon [Ouellette] in here with us, and he helped our doubles teams in terms of communicating.
“The singles were fine,” Levasseur added. “Courtney was No. 1 in The County, and Isabel and Felisha just came in and filled their positions.”
There is no singular explanation for Van Buren’s recent tennis success — the Crusaders are 46-5 over the last four seasons.
“I think it’s just because we’re so close and we all want to win for each other,” said Parent.
Van Buren will be a heavy underdog in the state final, where it has lost to Waynflete 4-1 each of the last two seasons. No Eastern Maine team has won the Class C girls title since the Maine Principals’ Association began awarding state championships in that division in 1995.
“We’ll play our hardest and see what happens,” said Courtney Parent. “We’re all pretty good players, and we’re all willing to help each other out. I’m really lucky to be part of this team.”
And with its top three players graduating Friday night before making one final trek south to represent their school on the tennis court, Van Buren will begin next season from a familiar position.
“It will be a building year next year,” Levasseur said. “I thought this year would be a building year, too, but look where it’s got us. I’m amazed where this has led us, and I’m very happy.”
Broncos win sportsmanship honors
The Hampden Academy baseball team has been awarded the Harry J. Dalton Sportsmanship Award for the 2015 season by the Eastern Maine Umpires Association.
The award is presented by the umpires to one Class A-B school in the region each year in recognition of the best observed sportsmanship during the regular season.
Coach McLean Poulin’s Hampden club, which did not have a senior on its roster, finished with a 5-11 record and just three points out of the final playoff spot in Eastern Maine Class A.
