Lincoln Academy’s Gigi Blake, who won her match during the Class B state championship finals last season, will play a key role for the team this spring. (Mic LeBel photo, LCN file)
Despite losing key leaders from last season’s state championship team, the Lincoln Academy girls tennis team is expected to be in the mix of contenders once again when the Class B playoffs arrive later this spring. After four years under the leadership of 2025 graduates London Hunter, Olive Siegel, and Olivia Crooker, the young and revamped Eagles appear ready and eager to fly.
“Our team will need to rebuild this year, but I expect it to be a strong rebuild,” Lincoln Academy head coach Melissa Burroughs said. “We have only two seniors, but there’s no shortage of experience.”
The 2025 Eagles cruised to an undefeated regular season (12-0) and earned Class B South playoff wins against Erskine and York before battling their way to a state title in a dramatic come-from behind 3-2 victory over Old Town on Tuesday, June 11 at Bates College in Lewiston.
Burroughs expects that returning athletes from the state Class B championship squad – Lauren Lee, Meara McManus, Caroline Allan, Gigi Blake, Elise Lupien, and Liz Hau – will guide the Eagles to another strong season, which will also be boosted by the addition freshmen Calliope Hagan and Ruby Glenn.
The team continues to generate strong interest from Lincoln Academy students, with 22 girls participating in tryouts. “We’ll retain 13 or 14 players for this season,” said Burroughs. “Seven girls play in each varsity match, so our hope is to have enough girls to allow for substitutions, exhibition match play, and to sustain the future growth of the program.”
The head coach has been impressed by the offseason preparation of the team members and noted that the girls look more ready to go on day one than any year she has coached at LA.
“The girls have been actively playing all winter, and it shows in their skills improvement, fitness, readiness to learn, and overall excitement,” Burroughs said. “In the next couple of weeks we’ll build a team philosophy and work on individual goals. Because of their excellent preparation, I feel we can enter the 2026 season with strong expectations and a bit more intention.”
The tennis program also continues its tradition of featuring incoming international players, as the 2026 roster will add Quyen Tran, of Vietnam, and Louisa Honorio de Lima, of Brazil, both of whom will play in varsity or exhibition doubles matches.
Other newcomers vying for starting roles include freshmen Hagan and Glenn, who according to Burroughs play actively year-round and therefore bring a considerable amount of competitive tennis experience to the squad.
“I expect that they will fit seamlessly with the returning girls both on and off the court,” said Burroughs. “With their addition, we have quite a few prospects for singles play this year.”
Burroughs noted that she is also expecting big things from senior Liz Hau, who made a big jump in her development since the season concluded last year. “I expect Liz Hau and Quyen Tran will factor into our doubles lineup this year,” said Burroughs. “They offer our team an interesting tactical option with their heavy topspin.”
Katy Nicketakis will join Burroughs as assistant coach for the second straight year. “She brings great tennis and coaching experience, having worked with high school students her entire career,” Burroughs said.
The Eagles’ schedule this year is similar to last season, but one new wrinkle is that they will kick off the preseason with a tournament on the indoor courts at the Midcoast Recreation Center in Rockport against Camden and Waterville on Saturday, April 11.
“The preseason tri-level tournament will be a fun opportunity for the girls to see some good competition early on that will highlight what we need to work on,” said Burroughs. “We will also scrimmage Class A Brunswick here at LA (on Tuesday, April 14), which has always been a good way to see where we stand against some of the stronger teams in the state.”
Burroughs is also looking forward to a midseason matchup on Wednesday, April 29 against Cape Elizabeth, a tough opponent outside of their conference.
“Cape is a good team that we often meet in the postseason, so that should be a telling match for us,” Burroughs said.
The Eagles kick off the regular season at home against Erskine on Thursday, April 16.
Doubles player Caroline Allan is among the key returning athletes that are expected to help the Lincoln Academy girls team defend its state championship title this spring. (Mic LeBel photo, LCN file)
