WATERVILLE — For the second time in three days, the girls of Falmouth High found themselves in trouble on the tennis courts, their nine-year winning streak in jeopardy.
Once again, they persisted and ultimately prevailed.
Falmouth won an unprecedented 10th consecutive state championship Saturday morning at Colby College, beating Brunswick 5-0 in the Class A finals.
Falmouth’s boys also won a Class A title, their third in four years, 5-0 over Lewiston. They won every match in straight sets.
That wasn’t the case for the girls, who jumped to a quick 2-0 lead on lopsided victories by freshman Meredith Kelley and No. 2 singles and seniors Mia Cooney and Mary Hyland at No. 1 doubles.
The remaining three matches all appeared in doubt until junior Grace Dimick and sophomore Maddy Joyce delivered the clincher by winning the last three games of a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 decision at No. 2 doubles.
“They have an incredible net game,” Dimick said of Brunswick senior Lea Scrapchansky and sophomore Rae Bamberger. “So we tried to either lob it or hit it through them so they didn’t get it at the net. That’s how we won the second set. The third set was a little harder.”
The victory extended Falmouth’s winning streak to 157 matches. It also broke a tie at nine straight state titles with the girls of South Portland (1972-80) and Cape Elizabeth (1990-98).
“Absolutely amazing,” said Joyce, an alternate at last year’s state finals. “All the girls are awesome. I’m so grateful for this experience.”
Seniors Amanda Watson at No. 3 and Kate Kelley at No. 1 singles completed the sweep. Watson survived two set points in a 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 victory over Cassie Ridge and Kelley outlasted Kira Wolpow 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).
“That was a good feeling,” Kelley said, “but it was all about getting the ten-peat.”
Falmouth also struggled in Thursday’s regional final before beating Thornton Academy 4-1.
Saturday “was the same feeling, very close,” said Falmouth Coach Bill Goodspeed. “It seemed like a 3-2 match decided by a third-set tiebreaker.”
In the boys’ match, seniors Trey Fallon and Jordan Bruce won quickly at No. 1 doubles and junior Alex Klemperer and senior Peter Stegemann did likewise at second and third singles to clinch.
“I’m happy to go out on a good note,” said Stegemann, who had lost in Thursday’s 3-2 regional victory over defending state champ Thornton. “(Thursday) was our toughest match. This was just a cherry on the cake.”
Sophomore Nick Forester beat Cole Ouellette 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 singles and senior Greyson Cohen and junior Matt Adamowicz won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles to complete the shutout.
“I hate to see the four seniors go from this group,” Falmouth Coach Bob McCully said. “They are very team-oriented.”
One of those four, Fallon, reports Sunday for offseason workouts with the Lafayette College football program. He said the boys don’t mind taking a back seat to Falmouth’s girls.
“They have a fantastic streak,” he said. “They definitely deserve the attention.”
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or:
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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