It takes just five short days of tennis to decide pairings for regional final matches and the process began Tuesday with tournament prelims trimming the field down to quarterfinal contenders.

This afternoon (weather permitting), the top-seeded Westbrook boys (11-1) will face-off against No. 8 Marshwood (7-6) in a Western Maine Class A quarterfinal match. The Blazes downed the Hawks by a 5-0 score back on May 1.

The winner of today’s match will take on either No. 5 Deering or No. 4 Kennebunk on Saturday in a semifinal.

The Blazes topped Kennebunk by a 4-1 margin a couple weeks ago and they knocked off Deering in the final match of the regular season by a 3-2 score.

Gorham teams in quarterfinal action today

The Gorham boys tennis team (8-4) is seeded sixth in Western Maine Class A entering today’s regional quarterfinal match against third-seeded Windham (11-1).

These two tennis teams met in last year’s West A final with the Eagles downing the Rams and moving on to the state championship. They also met earlier this season with Windham taking a nail-biting 3-2 win on May 4.

The winner of today’s quarterfinal will face either No. 7 Cheverus (8-5) or No. 2 Scarborough (11-1) on Saturday in another regional semifinal.

Gorham defeated Cheverus during the regular season by a 3-2 score and the Rams were beaten by the Red Storm (3-2) on May 16.

The Gorham girls team (11-1) is the top seed in the Western Maine Class A tournament and they face No. 8 Portland (7-6) this afternoon in a regional quarterfinal. The Rams did not face the Bulldogs during the regular season.

The winner of today’s match will take on either No. 5 Deering (8-4) or No. 4 McAuley (10-2) on Saturday in a regional semifinal. The Rams downed Deering by a 3-2 score in regular season play and they lost their only match of the year to McAuley by a 4-1 margin back on April 27. Gorham has won nine straight matches since that defeat to the Lions.