Short-handed Wildcat girls battle in tennis post-season
Despite having to forfeit both doubles matches, the Presque Isle Wildcats girls’ tennis team gave No. 1 Mount Desert Island all it wanted in Thursday’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal match played in Bar Harbor.
PI (8-6) fell by a narrow 3-2 decision as Hilary Boucher and Sarah Morneault were able to take their singles matches for the Wildcats. After dropping the first set, No. 2 singles player Michelle Cawley forced a second-set tie-breaker before losing to Ivy Wallace.
“It is tough mentally and physically when you are down a match before you even step onto the court and starting the season with only five players, we did just that,” said PI coach Monica Bearden. “Then after a 6-1 start, we lost a player due to an injury and now they are down two matches before they even play their opponent.
“These girls showed such great character, mental toughness and an outstanding work ethic to persevere and finish the season above 500,” she added, “and I thank these outstanding young ladies for making me proud to be their coach.
The previous afternoon in Dover-Foxcroft, No. 9 Presque Isle stopped the Foxcroft Academy Ponies, 3-2. Boucher, Cawley and Morneault all won their singles matches in straight sets, losing a total of four games in the process. Once again, the Wildcats had to forfeit both doubles matches.
The Wildcat boys were defeated by No. 2 Camden Hills Thursday, 4-1. Presque Isle’s lone winner was No. 1 singles player Chase Norton. The senior bounced back after losing the first set to defeat Austin Pohlman, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Byron Winslow and Denny Young lost their singles matches, while the duos of Colin Daigle-Alex Brewer and Tyler Ayotte-Isaac Madore were also beaten by their Windjammer opponents.
PI, the seventh seed which had beaten Oceanside in a home prelim match June 1, had a final record of 9-5 under second-year coach Brian Massey.
