PORTLAND — Her match complete, Eryn Doiron had no idea she had made school history.
When told she just became the first Mt. Blue girls tennis player to ever advance to the Round of 16 of the state singles tournament, the senior’s reply was surprise.
“Really?” she said.
Doiron advanced with a tough three-set win over Kate Kelley, of Falmouth, at the Portland Racket and Fitness Center. After losing the first set, 6-4, Doiron rallied to win the next two sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Doiron will face Rosemary Campanella, of Wells, on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. at Lewiston High School. The No. 4 seed, Campanella advanced with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Erskine’s Ellie Hodkin.
Evan Backus, of Mt. Blue, advanced on the boys side with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Junsi Xiao, of Thornton Academy. Backus will take on No. 2 Nick Forester, of Falmouth, at 10:45 a.m.
Bethany Hammond, a Belgrade native who attends St. Dominic, advanced with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Greely’s Kathryn Paré. The No. 2 seed, Hammond will face Katie Gilman, of Cape Elizabeth, at 10:45 Saturday morning in the Round of 16.
Doiron’s steady play was a key to her victory.
“I stayed patient and definitely waited for my opportunity, but mostly I stayed relaxed,” Doiron said.
Throughout the match, Doiron thought of the team motto shared by the Cougar girls and boys tennis teams: Keep it deep. Doiron did that as much as possible, making Kelley play the entire court.
“That was kind of my goal for the day,” Doiron said. “Normally I have trouble finishing games. When I was up 5-3, I tried to play like I was down 3-5.”
For Backus, a key was using his backhand — a strength of his game — and making Xiao move. Down 2-1 in the second set, Backus broke Xiao’s serve, took a 3-2 lead and took over the match.
“I felt like when I broke his serve, I wouldn’t lose another set,” Backus said. “I felt I had momentum after that change.”
Waterville’s Emma Cristan, the No. 9 seed, lost to York’s Mia Briggs in the second round, 6-1, 6-3. Megan Chamberland, of Winthrop, fell to Lena Rich, of North Yarmouth Academy, 6-0, 6-1.
Messalonskee’s Alena Thomas lost a three set match to top seed Lena Mavor of Yarmouth. After winning the first set, 6-4, Thomas fell 7-6 (6) in set two. Mavor advanced with. 6-3 win in the third set.
No. 3 Julia Brogan, of Falmouth, beat Mt. Blue’s Sophie Swain, 6-0, 6-0.
On the boys side, Deering’s Conor Doane beat Mt. Blue’s Alex Bunnell, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the Round of 16. Mt. Blue’s Jack Leopold lost a tough three-set match to No. 6 Cole Ouellette, of Lewiston, 7-5, 2-6, 1-6.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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