Laura Chapman of Boothbay Region High School won three matches and advanced to the semifinals of the Maine State Tennis Championships singles tournament on Saturday, May 18 at Colby College in Waterville. Chapman, the tournament’s number three seed, was making her fourth attempt to win a state championship, having qualified and participated at Maine’s premier high school girls singles event for each of the previous three seasons.
After receiving a bye in the first round of the tournament, Chapman got off to a great start by beating Alice Korzekwa of Presque Isle 6-3, 6-0 on Thursday, May 15 to advance to the Round of 16. Chapman defeated Lilia Root of Thornton Academy 6-3, 6-3 on Friday, May 16 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Later that same day, Chapman battled high temperatures, humidity and the sun while beating Phoebe Reilly of Falmouth in the quarterfinals in another straight set victory 6-3 6-4. According to Boothbay head coach Arsenault, fatigue was already starting to set in as Chapman advanced to the semifinals where she faced Molly Tefft of Brunswick on Saturday, May 17. Tefft was seeded as the number two ranked player in the state singles tournament. Chapman lost the first set to Tefft 3-6 before bouncing back in the second.
“Laura really dictated the play in the first set, but she had trouble finishing and winning points,” said Arsenault. “In the second set she reduced her errors and played really smart tennis, adapting to her opponent and focusing more on her own strategy.” Chapman won the second set 6-4. In the third and deciding set, Chapman fell behind 5-1 but battled back to narrow the margin to 5-4 before losing the set 6-4, and thus losing the match two sets to one to the eventual state singles runner-up.
Boothbay’s Laura Chapman advanced to the girls singles semifinals at the Maine State Tennis Championships on Saturday, May 17 at Colby College in Waterville. (LCN file photo by Paula Roberts)
Three Lincoln Academy tennis players competed at the Maine State Tennis Championships on Thursday, May 15 at Bates College in Lewiston. George Siegel and Eli Melanson played in the boys singles tournament, and Gigi Blake competed in the girls singles event. Melanson advanced the furthest of the three Eagles, winning his first round match 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-6 over Bergen Soderberg of Orono in a long battle decided by a tiebreaker. Melanson lost in the second round in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 to Matt Morneult of Falmouth, the number one seed and eventual state tournament champion. After taking a one set lead, Siegel lost a long battle decided by a tiebreaker in the first round 7-5, 5-7, 6-10 to Laken Walker of John Bapst (Bangor) and was eliminated from the tournament. Blake lost her first round match in the girls singles tournament 6-2, 6-2 to Ally Canatsey of Scarborough.
The Medomak Valley girls tennis pair of Haley Blake and Arden Kondracki won a match in the girls doubles tournament and advanced to the Round of 32 at the Maine State Tennis Championships on Thursday, May 15 at Colby College in Waterville. Blake and Kondracki beat the Caribou duo of Joslyn Griffeth and Bella Sleeper in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the doubles tournament. The pair advanced to the Round of 32, where they lost 4-6, 2-6 to Falmouth’s Gwen Long and Carley Iannetta. The Falmouth pair went on to win the state doubles championship on Saturday, May 17.
Two pairs of Boothbay boys competed in the Maine State Tennis Championships doubles tournament on Thursday, May 15 at Colby College in Waterville. Boothbay’s Harry Hinckley and Cole Hyson won their first doubles match in the morning and advanced to a second round match held in the afternoon. The duo, which typically competes as the first doubles team for the Seahawks, beat Nolan Arthurs and Braden Savage of Mattanawcook in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. Hinckley and Hyson lost in the second round 4-6, 0-6 to the tournament’s number three seed Brunswick duo of Blake Belanger and Evan Williams, and were eliminated from the tournament. The Seahawks second doubles pair of Neal Baldwin and Avery Fowlie lost 2-6, 1-6 in the first round to Martin Hazelhurst and Michael Paules, and subsequently was bounced from the tourney.
