BELGRADE — Skowhegan Area High School girls tennis coach Andrew Staples knew the formula for victory for his team in the Class A North quarterfinals Thursday afternoon. The Indians needed to win the matches at doubles, where he knew they would be competitive, and they needed to sneak away with just one of the singles matches.
Messalonskee made sure that plan never had a chance.
The third-seeded Eagles dominated the singles matches en route to a 5-0 sweep over the sixth-seeded Indians in the playoff opener at the New England Golf and Tennis Camp.
The Indians were without key players, most notably their No. 2 in singles, but Staples knew they had a shot. Skowhegan had earned victories over Messalonskee in both doubles matches before.
“We knew what we were up against,” he said. “We were hoping for some good doubles matches, and then see what happens at (No.) 1.”
Messalonskee made a quick move to crush those hopes. Amanda Wiswell got the surge started at No. 2 singles, earning a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kim Munster that was aided by a scouting report from teammate and No. 3 singles player Elena Guarino, who had played Munster earlier in the season.
“She said to move her around and stuff, and that’s what I was working on,” Wiswell said. “I mainly stay consistent and kind of make them lose the point. … (I tried) placing the ball and making her run a little bit more than if I just hit the ball back to her.”
Guarino handled her own match just as deftly, finishing off Katelyn Warren 6-0, 6-0 and putting Messalonskee in firm command.
“Skowhegan’s always been like a major rival. I don’t know why, but we’ve always had kind of a competition between the two,” Guarino said. “We were actually pretty nervous coming up, because the first time we played them we only beat them 3-2. It definitely, I think, gave the team a boost of confidence that we needed to push over the top.”
Eagles coach Caroline Mathes said the two used a clean and patient approach, rarely opening the door for a rally from their opponents.
“They played today like they’ve played when they’ve won,” she said. “They played a consistency game, hit the ball and let the other person make the mistake. We really wanted to focus on that today, so they did their goal.”
True to Staples’s prediction, the doubles matches were close enough to keep the Indians’ hopes alive. No. 1 doubles team Gracie Vicente and Magan Williams saw Skowhegan’s Brooke Rogers and Jada Mack work the first set to a 4-3 score before finishing a 6-3 win, then took the second set 6-2 to put Messalonskee up 3-0 and clinch the quarterfinal victory.
The score marked a turnaround after the Skowhegan tandem defeated Vicente and Williams with a pair of tiebreaker victories in an earlier match.
“They’ve improved. Doubles is where we’ve been a little weak, and that showed they listened and got to work,” Mathes said. “Gracie was the aggressive volley player. She just has to be reminded to go after it. I thought she did really well in that second set.”
Vicente, a captain, said she and Williams had a better approach on Thursday than they had before.
“This time, we really pulled together,” she said. “I think it’s just being positive and keeping each other motivated. Last time, we were getting discouraged, we didn’t have enough energy. This time, we were really excited to play.”
With the match sealed, Lauren Bourque earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Hannah Howard at No. 1 singles. It was Bourque’s third win over Howard in four matches dating back to last season.
“The No. 1 match was really competitive, but Lauren’s a really top-notch player that has gotten a lot better since last year,” Staples said.
Emma Kennard and Gabby Wood-McGuckin earned a marathon 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-4 win over Emily Reichenbach and Mackenzie McConnell at No. 2 doubles. Staples said the last-minute adjustments hurt his team’s chances, but credited his players — namely Munster, who moved from No. 3 to No. 2, and Warren, who was called up to No. 3 singles — for playing through the adversity.
“Singles was certainly a tough day for us,” he said. “Some kids moved up and took spots they typically wouldn’t play, but I was still impressed with the effort. I had one girl at No. 3 that really focused and played hard, and my No. 2 match, we had a gameplan for that match and the wrong girl played it, so it is what it is.”
Drew Bonifant — 621-5638
dbonifant@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @dbonifantMTM
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