WATERVILLE — Waterville is an annual participant in the Eastern B girls tennis final. A few minutes after Saturday’s match began, it was clear that was not going to change.
Camden Hills was missing No. 1 singles player Abby Blakeley, and was also short-handed enough to forfeit the No. 2 doubles match. Knowing they just had to win two other matches to advance, the Purple Panthers took all of them, beating Camden 5-0 in an Eastern B semifinal on Saturday afternoon at the Jim Begin Recreational Tennis Courts.
No. 2 Waterville (14-0) faces No. 1 Mt. Desert Island (14-0) in the regional final. According to Waterville coach Jill Cristan, that match will be played at 4 p.m., Wednesday at the Colby College courts. No. 3 Camden finishes at 12-2, with both losses to Waterville.
Camden’s lineup changes meant Waterville’s No. 1 doubles team of Jill Cristan and Jayme Saulter played Camden’s regular No. 2 doubles team of Selena Landry and Frances Pendleton. Saulter and Cristan took an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory.
“Coming into this match, we knew their lineup was a little messed up,” Cristan said, “so when we talked before, we’re like, ‘Hey, we need to stay in it.’ Jayme and I are really good working with each other. So we’re like, ‘It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. That’s not important. We’ve just got to follow through with our strokes, keep everything calm.'”
At first singles, Colleen O’Donnell rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win. Emily Dufour at No. 2 singles and Olivia Benissan at No. 3 singles each finished off their matches by scores of 6-1, 6-1. The day was unusually warm for this spring, but all of the matches were completed in about an hour or less.
“The heat can kind of slow you down sometimes, but I felt pretty good,” Benissan said.
A win against MDI will gives the Purple Panthers their fourth consecutive Eastern B championship. Saulter, who has been with the team for four seasons, thinks chemistry is the biggest reason for this year’s success.
“Our whole team this year, I think it’s the strongest out of all the years I’ve played,” Saulter said. “So I think it’s definitely the chemistry. We all work very well together, and we get along outside of tennis practice, outside of school.”
“We’re not afraid of a little pushing each other,” Cristan said. “We’re not afraid of a little competition. We like to work at each other, and get better together, as a team.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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