PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The late snow this spring has hampered the efforts of the Presque Isle varsity tennis teams.
Coach Monica Bearden, who enters the season with nine years of coaching experience, leads the girls’ squad which consists of just seven players.
The starters this season are senior Sara Gilson at first singles, junior Hilary Boucher at second singles, senior Blair Bailey at third singles, sophomore Michelle Cawley and senior Lora Ireland at first doubles, and sophomore Sedona Lucas and freshman Sarah Morneault at second doubles.
The team only lost one player from last season, so chemistry should be solid with the upperclassmen leading the way. The season got off to a slow start, with the recent snow accumulation making it difficult to practice.
“The weather has had a huge impact,” coach Bearden said. “Technique for various strokes can be worked on (in the gym), but you don’t have the right distance and the ball bounces differently. You certainly can’t work on a correct serve and that is a huge part of the game.”
The Wildcats have several key matchups this season, including some against County rivals that can prove pivotal when it comes to making the postseason.
“Fort Kent and Madawaska are usually close matchups,” Bearden said. “Caribou is consistently one of the top teams in Eastern Maine and we were fortunate to win one of our matches against them last season and that put us in a non-preliminary spot in the tournament.”
With just enough players on the roster to fill the starting seven spots, staying healthy is key for the Wildcats if they wish to have another successful season.
Even with the weather hampering the Wildcats’ practice time, first-year boys’ coach Brian Massey has a strong outlook for the season.
“[We are a] well-balanced team. We have three seniors in the top five [and] we have a ton of eighth-graders coming through the pike,” he said.
When it comes to matchups, Massey expects this season to be a competitive one.
“I expect us to compete against a very tough conference,” he said. “If we can win some key matchups in the mid-season, we have a shot to do some damage in the tournament.”
The key matches for the Wildcats this season include Caribou, who they will face on May 22 and 27, and the Ellsworth Eagles, who have had some success over the team in recent years, on May 13.
This year’s team is led by senior and first singles player Liam Hughes, whose experience and skill set should help carry the team. Rounding out the starting seven is junior Chris Carroll at second singles, senior Mikey Michaud at third singles, sophomore Byron Winslow and senior Andrew Dyer at first doubles and freshman Denny Young and sophomore Tyler Ayotte at second doubles.
Like the girls, with only seven players on the team and no reserves on the bench, staying healthy is a must to keep the Wildcats from forfeiting any matches this season.
Wildcats open with victories
Presque Isle made the trip to Old Town Saturday and came away with identical 4-1 victories over the Coyotes in the season opener for the Wildcats.
Girls’ winners included Sara Gilson, who recorded an 8-0 win over Michaela Persson in first singles, and Bailey, who was also an 8-0 victor over Minori Kawasaki in No. 3 singles. Both PI doubles teams also came out on top, with Cawley and Ireland stopping Blake Neal and Miranda Gifford, 8-1, and Lucas and Sarah Morneault stopping Sarah Vaillancourt and Sara Bickford, 8-2.
Boucher fell in her No. 2 singles match by a score of 8-4 to Old Town’s Sarah Plunkett.
For the boys, Massey won his varsity coaching debut as all three Wildcat singles players came out on top. Hughes blanked Griffin Marquis in No. 1 singles, 8-0, while Carroll stopped Alex Ross and Michaud bested Chris Binette by 8-5 scores in the other singles matches.
In No. 1 doubles, the PI tandem of Byron Winslow and Andrew Dyer were too much for Nick Ferro and Josh Crouse, winning 8-2. The Wildcats forfeited their second doubles match.
The Wildcat teams traveled to Fort Kent for a match against the Warriors Tuesday. PI resumes its schedule May 8 with home openers against Fort Kent.
