Viking girls drop tennis quarterfinal to ’Jammers

    ROCKPORT, Maine — The Caribou girls’ varsity tennis team was looking to pull off a big upset in the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals Thursday, but a lack of available players forced the team to forfeit No. 2 doubles and that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 loss.
The Vikings, who finished 7-7, were the 11th seed coming off a preliminary playoff upset over No. 6 Erskine Academy earlier in the week and came close to pulling off another surprise win over No. 3 Camden Hills, but fell just short.
Makayla Bouchard of the Vikings stopped Carrie Helmholz, 8-4, in second singles, but Camden Hills took the other two singles matches, with Abby Blakeley downing Erin Patton, 8-1, and Katie Vannorsdall besting Clara Collins by the same 8-1 score.
Caribou earned its other win in first doubles as Bria Judd and Conner Spencer eased past Hannah Olsen and Sophia Landry, 8-2.
Veteran Viking coach John Habeeb said Thursday’s match culminated a challenging season for the Caribou tennis program.
“Both seasons were kind of tough this year with a late start in getting outside,” Habeeb said. “We played our first match of the year with only one real outdoor practice, hence, our kids went to play a regular season match without playing any sort of tune-up matches, whether it be in singles or doubles.
“Both teams should be better next year. Clara is the only senior and we have some good eighth-graders coming our way … I wouldn’t be surprised to see both teams in the top four next year,” he added.