The shorthanded Washington Academy girls tennis team rallied from an early walkover loss to capture its first state championship in program history Saturday evening, outlasting Waynflete of Portland 3-2 in the Class C final played at South Portland High School.
Waynflete won its 14th consecutive state crown in the boys ranks, defeating Van Buren/Wisdom 5-0.
The Washington Academy of East Machias girls began the match trailing 1-0 before any players stepped onto the court after Waynflete won the third singles match in a walkover because the Raiders’ Tina Pham, an international student from Vietnam, returned home earlier this week after winning her match at third singles during the team’s 3-2 victory over Orono in Tuesday’s Class C North final.
That left WA needing three wins in the remaining four matches in order to capture the state crown, and that’s what coach Woody Moulton’s club did.
Waynflete (11-5) won at second doubles, with Anna Farmer and Jenny Merrill defeating Cora Sanchez and Aviva Bridges 6-1, 6-2, but Washington Academy (14-2) won at first doubles and the two singles matches that were contested, all in straight sets.
Yagmur Bolukbasi and Crystalann Kloeber defeated Maeve Mechtenberg and Jane Livingston 6-4, 6-3, Carlota Etchevercibar topped Vivian Rallis 6-0, 7-5 at second singles and top seed Sarah Moulton capped off the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Lucy Hart.
The Waynfiete boys (12-4) scored four straight-set victories in their sweep of 12-3 Van Buren/Wisdom, which was coming off winning its first regional title.
Henry Kerr defeated Xavier Deschaine 6-4, 6-2, Matt Adey outlasted Jordan Clavette 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 and Theo Demetriou topped Brady Laplante 6-1, 6-1 in singles play.
Henry Hart and Ed Cox bested Blake Martin and Mikail Deschaine 6-1, 6-0 at first doubles and Max Shuman and Basil DiBenedetto defeated Eric Laplante and Sam Hebert 6-3, 6-4 at second doubles.
Earlier in the day, the Lincoln Academy girls captured their third Class B state title in the last four seasons, defeating defending state champion Waterville 4-1.
Yarmouth edged Mount Desert Island 3-2 for the Class B boys crown, while Kennebunk swept the Class A finals with the girls defeating 2021 state champion Brunswick 5-0 while the boys downed Camden Hills of Rockport 3-2.
Lincoln Academy swept the doubles and also won at first and second singles to finish the spring at 16-0.
Isobel Petersen and London Hunter topped Arian Gilman and Allie Anich 6-2, 6-1 at first doubles, while Clare Colburn and Olive Siegal defeated Fatima Sheikh and Skylar Talon by the same score at second doubles.
Olivia Nixon and Laura Mueller added singles victories for the Eagles of Newcastle, with Nixon defeating Waterville’s Kiera Gilman 6-0, 6-1 at first singles and Mueller edging Karin Zimba 6-4, 6-4.
Waterville’s Emily Campbell topped Vittoria Pauro 10-6 in a super tiebreaker at third singles with the team competition decided after Campbell had won the first set 6-4 and Pauro rallied to win the second set by the same score.
Waterville finished 11-5,
The Yarmouth boys won their third consecutive boys title with victories at second and third singles and first doubles.
Sutter Augere and Ethan Leonard secured the Clippers’ doubles win, defeating Jack Hodgdon and Jameson Weir 6-0, 6-2. Asher Lockwood defeated MDI’s Evan Ankrom 6-1, 6-0 at third singles and Quinn Federle topped Max Friedlander 6-3, 6-4 at second singles.
MDI, which had just one senior among its seven varsity players this spring, got its first point from Treyan Nelson and Owen Kelly, who outlasted Wiley Schumacher and Andre Violette 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2 at second doubles.
The Trojans’ Westy Granholm defeated Will Best 10-5 in a super tiebreaker to conclude the match after the two first singles players split sets. Best scored a 6-2 first-set victory before Granholm rallied to win the second set 6-3.
The Yarmouth boys finished with a 16-0 record, while MDI went 15-1.
State singles champion George Cutone led the Kennebunk boys to their second straight Class A state crown and a 15-1 season, with the sophomore defeating Camden Hills senior Ezra LeMole without yielding a game.
Kennebunk also won at second singles, with Will Smith defeating Lincoln Pierce 6-2, 6-1, but Camden Hills got a victory at third singles as Noah Thackeray topped Noah Williams 6-4, 7-6(1).
The teams split the doubles matches. Kennebunk’s Jason Redmond and Matt Durcan edged Wilson Fedarko and Liam O’Dwyer 6-4, 7-5 at first doubles, while Camden Hills’ Alex Todd and Sam Van Lonkhuyzen outlasted Parker Smith and Blake Dallara at second doubles in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(6).
Camden Hills, which was seeking its first state title since winning back-to-back Class B championships in 2016 and 2017, concluded its season with a 14-2 record.
Kennebunk freshman Olivia Cutone, George’s sister, scored a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Coco Meserve as the Kennebunk girls shut out Brunswick to win the program’s first state championship since 2003.
Cutone’s win was one of five straight-set victories for the Rams. Sadie Yentsch downed Abby Sharpe 6-0, 6-0 at second singles and Andie Lamontagne stopped Sadie Levy 6-1, 6-3 at third singles.
Arija Grant and Hazel McEnamey scored a 7-6(5), 6-4 first doubles win over Hazel Goodwin and Izzy Leitzell, while Audrey McEnamey and Ainsley Morrison defeated Emily Davison and Logan Brown 6-2, 6-3 at second doubles.