Vikings advance to tennis regional finals

7 years ago

The Caribou girls will play for a Class B North tennis championship Tuesday after dominating John Bapst in Saturday’s semifinal matchup in Madawaska. 

The Vikings beat the Crusaders, 5-0. It marked Caribou’s 14th consecutive match this season in which it shut out the opposition. Caribou also had beaten John Bapst during the regular season, way back on April 15.

Singles players Gabrielle Marquis, Ashley Matlock and Kelly Nicklaus and the doubles teams of Conner Spencer-Hailey Holmquist and Ciara Richards-Danielle Hanson all won in straight sets and lost a total of just 13 games in the process.

The teams originally had been slated to play at Caribou High School, but rain there sent them toward the alternate indoor site at the Multi-Purpose Center in Madawaska. When the teams arrived in Madawaska, however, it wasn’t raining so they played at the town’s outdoor courts.

The Vikes, ranked second, now will meet up against No. 1 Camden Hills in Tuesday’s title match at 1:30 p.m. at Maine Pines Racquet and Fitness Tennis Club in Brunswick. That match originally was to be played outdoors at Colby College in Waterville, but a forecast of rain forced the change in venue as announced by Maine Principals’ Association officials Monday morning.

The Caribou boys, ranked first in Class B North, were upset by No. 4 Waterville, 3-2, in a match also played Saturday in Madawaska.

The Vikes prevailed in second and third singles, with freshman Parker Deprey and sophomore Gabriel Rand coming away with straight-set victories. However, Caribou lost both doubles matches and also fell in first singles to suffer its only loss of the season.

Summaries of the matches are as follows:

Caribou girls (14-0) 5, John Bapst (12-2) 0 — Singles: Marquis (C) def. Crystal Bell 6-2, 6-0, Matlock (C) def. Becca Johnson 6-0, 6-3, Nicklaus (C) def. Grace Harman 6-0, 6-0; Doubles: Spencer-Holmquist (C) def. Grace Phillipon-Haley Grover 6-2, 6-2, Richards-Hanson (C) def. Adelaide Valley-Lisa Murphy 6-3, 6-1.

Waterville boys (10-4), Caribou boys (13-1) — Singles: Soren Nyhus (W) def. Alec Cyr 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2, Deprey (C) def. Bridger Holly 6-1, 6-0, Rand (C) def. John Violette 6-2, 6-3; Doubles: Mike Bolduc-Ethan Cayer (W) def. Bailey Griffeth-Emerson Duplissie-Cyr 6-4, 6-4, Adam Livshits-Mohammad Ali-Shelieh (W) def. Seth Beidelman-Aidan Plante 6-3, 6-3.