It was a big day for the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference at Tuesday’s Class B North tennis championships.
Two KVAC teams, the Belfast boys and Erskine Academy of South China girls, captured their first regional titles with victories in the B North finals played at the Wallach Tennis Center on the campus of Bates College in Lewiston.
Second-seeded Belfast upended top-ranked Caribou 3-2 in a battle of unbeatens for the boys crown, while third-seeded Erskine edged KVAC rival Waterville by the same score in the girls match.
Coach Scott Benzie’s Belfast club, a quarterfinalist a year ago, won both doubles matches as well as at second singles, where Eli Joliffe topped Caribou’s Sawyer Deprey 6-2, 6-3.
Belfast’s other victories came as Dyllan Clark and Vin Boinarrigo defeated Aidan Plante and Cody Martin 6-1, 6-4 at first doubles, and Sam Spectre and Kyle Agbuya outlasted Brevin Barnes and Logan Cheplic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at second doubles.
Caribou captured two of the three singles matches, with No. 1 Parker Deprey defeating Josh Chun 6-2, 7-6 (5), and No. 3 Gabe Rand topping Max Lewis 6-2, 6-2.
The Lions (15-0) will face the winner of Thursday’s Class B South match between No. 3 Yarmouth (13-1) and No. 1 Freeport (12-1) in Saturday’s 12:45 p.m. state final, also at Bates College.
Caribou finished with a 14-1 record.
The girls competition came down to the final match to be completed, with Erskine senior Ellie Hodgkin defeating Waterville’s Inga Zimba 6-3, 6-3 to break a 2-2 tie in the team scoring.
That was one of two singles matches won by the Eagles, as Regina Harmon topped Waterville’s Belen Ramiro-Gonzalez 6-1, 6-4 at second singles.
Anna Sheikh provided Waterville its lone singles point with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Paige Leary at third singles.
Erskine’s third point came at second doubles where Morgaine Kmen and Julia Barber topped Jasmine Liberty and Hannah Hubbard 6-3, 6-2.
Waterville’s Lauren Smith and Keira Gilman scored a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Jane Blanchard and Kaytie Millay at first doubles.
Erskine (13-2) will face the winner of Thursday’s Class B South final between top-ranked and defending state champion Lincoln Academy of Newcastle (13-1) — yet another KVAC school — and No. 5 Greely of Cumberland Center (13-1) for the state title at 12:45 p.m. Saturday.
Waterville, the No. 4 seed in the North, ends its season at 11-4.
