TOPSHAM — The Maine Principals Association high school tennis playoffs began on Tuesday, with area teams in action.

Both the Mt. Ararat boys and girls opened with Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal play, as the fifth-seeded Eagle boys slipped past No. 4 Mt. Blue, 3-2, and the Mt. Ararat girls, seeded third, dropped just two sets in a 5-0 victory over No. 6 Bangor.

Played at Farmington, Nick Mathieu followed up his runner-up performance in the MPA Schoolboys tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ike Doiron, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Joe Thomas picked up a point for Mt. Ararat at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6- 3 over Mt. Blue’s Alex Bunnell, and the No. 1 doubles team of Trevor Mayo and Eric Knight earned a pair of 6-4 set wins.

Also, Mike Crawford fell to Mt. Blue’s Evan Backus, 6- 4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Eagles Jon Roux and Joey Reed dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision at No. 2 doubles.

With the win, Mt. Ararat will travel to No. 1 Bangor (12-1) on Saturday for the Eastern A semifinals. The Rams downed the Eagles, 4- 1, during the regular season.

The Mt. Ararat girls had little trouble with Bangor, rolling to straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, as well as No. 2 doubles.

Amy Segars downed Emily Brookings, 6-1, 6-2, at the top singles spot, while Eagles No. 2 Christine Levesque swept her way to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Isabelle Daigle at No. 2 singles.

Mt. Ararat’s Alison Melcher won a close match with Bangor’s Aidan Coyne, 6-2, 3- 6, 6-4, and Eliza Hodge and Priscilla Whitney dropped the first set (4-6) before rallying to take the final two, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles. Mt. Ararat captains Isabella Leon and Eva Jensen rolled at No. 2 doubles, downing Alyson Devereaux and Kirsten Higgens, 6-3, 6-0.

The Eagles await Thursday’s No. 7 Cony-No. 2 Hampden Academy result. If Cony pulls off the upset, Mt. Ararat will host, while a Broncos win sends the Eagles to Hampden.

Mt. Ararat defeated Cony, 5-0, and Hampden Academy, 3-2, during the season.

Morse moves on

The Morse girls hosted 10th-seeded Gardiner in a Western B preliminary match, with the seventhranked Shipbuilders taking a 4-1 decision, setting up a quarterfinal on Thursday at No. 2 Maranacook (9-3).

Morse (7-6) used strong singles play to take control. Arielle Leeman captured a 6- 2, 6-4 win at the No. 1 spot over Gardiner’s Brianna Mosher, while Shipbuilders No. 2 Courtney Mitchell dropped just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Isabella Ucci. At No. 3 singles, Sarah Young captured a 6-1, 6-0 win over Megan Williams.

Morse and Gardiner split in doubles. The top duo of Meaghan Harper and Lynn Swanson swept to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Tigers Teddy Brando and Anastasi Carr.

Gardiner (4-9) captured its lone point at No. 2 doubles, with Sissy Smith and Syna Soeberg falling in the first set before rallying for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.