WATERVILLE, Maine — The Caribou Vikings may have fallen short in their quest for the school’s 10th Eastern Maine title, but the future appears to be bright for the young squad.
The Vikings dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 1 Mount Desert Island in a match played at Colby College last Wednesday, but sixth-ranked Caribou, which had won road matches at Waterville and at John Bapst of Bangor to earn its Eastern Maine Class B championship-match berth, concluded its season with a 13-3 record despite a lineup featuring four freshmen and two sophomores.
“You’ve got a lot of girls here who last year were playing middle-school tennis, and here it’s a much bigger stage and the stakes are a lot higher,” said Caribou coach John Habeeb. “Next year I think we’ll be a little more used to it and hopefully we’ll play a little better because today could have been a lot closer. A few points here or there, that’s the way it is a lot of times, but the MDI team should be given credit for how well they played.”
MDI got its wins in second and third singles and No. 2 doubles.
Ivy Wallace scored a 6-3, 6-1 win over Caribou sophomore Conner Spencer, and Maeve Geary — undefeated at third singles this year — followed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Viking senior Makayla Bouchard.
The Trojans’ duo of Emily and Olivia McCarthy took the doubles match over Danielle Hanson and Taylor Fournier-Belanger, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1.
“If Caribou wins that first set I think it’s a whole other match because we’re still feeling the pressure because we had our chances to win and we’re thinking about that missed opportunity,” said MDI coach Ben Rowell. “But they were able to pull that one out.
“Then they got a roll in the second set and that’s how they can play, for sure. When they play together like that, they’re definitely on the same wavelength,” he added.
Caribou freshmen won the remaining two matches in three sets, with Gabrielle Marquis outlasting Sarah Phelps 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 at first singles and the Vikings’ first doubles tandem of Ashley Matlock and Ciara Richards defeating MDI’s freshman duo of Ellie Bridgers and India Janes 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 at second doubles.
