The sport of tennis has been very good to Forecaster Country and that trend continued in recent days at both the singles and team levels.

The state singles championship concluded Monday with Falmouth’s Olivia Leavitt winning the girls’ title for the third year in a row.

Leavitt, seeded first, had no trouble with Lincoln Academy’s Leslie Sandefur (6-0, 6-0) in the second round Friday, then advanced by virtue of wins over Brewer’s Claire Valley (6-0, 6-0) and North Yarmouth Academy’s Lena Rich (6-1, 6-1) Saturday into Monday’s semifinals, where she ousted teammate Julia Brogan, the No. 4 seed (6-1, 6-1).

That set up a final match showdown against No. 2 Bethany Hammond, whom Leavitt outlasted, 6-4, 7-6 (1), after being pushed much of the afternoon.

Leavitt said Hammond possessed a certain characteristic that gave her trouble.

“She’s a lefty,” Leavitt said. “I’ve had a hard time with lefties. Their spin is different. I always read righties better than lefties. She burned me down the line a couple times and great shots on her part. She was very consistent also. She made me have to end the point and be aggressive and come to the net a lot, which is where I won a lot of my points.”

Leavitt, who will attend and play tennis at Brandeis University in Massachusetts next year, said that her third title is bittersweet.

“It feels really good, but I’ll miss playing in the tournament a lot because it’s a great atmosphere,” Leavitt said. “I’ve had great times at it, obviously. I’ll definitely come back and watch, but it’s great knowing all my hard work and maturing in high school has paid off.”

Brogan advanced to the semifinals after defeating Mt. Blue’s Eryn Doiron (6-1, 6-0) in the second round, Scarborough’s Megan Nathanson (6-0, 6-1) in the round of 16 and Greely’s Izzy Evans (6-4, 6-3) in the quarterfinals.

Evans, ranked fifth, had advanced by virtue of wins over Ellsworth’s Sarah Shelton (6-2, 6-0) in the second round and Skowhegan’s Vasilisa Mitskevich (6-4, 6-1) in the round of 16.

Rich, seeded eighth, got to the quarterfinals after downing Windham’s Julia Richardson (6-0, 6-2) and Mattanawcook’s Meridith Blessard (6-4, 6-0). 

Falmouth’s Caroline Ray, seeded 10th, beat Hall-Dale’s Clio Barr in the second round (6-2, 6-2) and ousted No. 7 Liv Clifford in the round of 16, 7-6 (0), 6-4, then was eliminated by Hammond, 1-6, 4-6.

NYA’s Mary Morrison was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over George Stevens Academy’s Sophia Chen in the first round, then lost to Hammond in the second round, 0-6, 1-6.

NYA’s Mina Stam lost to Marshwood’s Sage Winter (1-6, 1-6) in the first round and Yarmouth’s Emily Parker was ousted by Shelton in the first round, 4-6, 1-6.

On the boys’ side, Falmouth’s Aidan McGrory reached the quarterfinals. McGrory beat Waynflete’s Brandon Ameglio (6-1, 6-2) in the second round and Thornton Academy’s Carlos Jiminez (6-4, 6-0) in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, McGrory was ousted by Fryeburg Academy’s Teodor Antelj, 2-6, 4-6.

Falmouth’s Alex Klemperer eliminated NYA’s Brad Potter (6-2, 6-4) in the first round, then lost to No. 8 Luke Horton of MDI, 2-6, 3-6. 

Falmouth’s Peter Stegemann outlasted Hermon’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round, then lost to No. 10 Luke Gilman in the second round, 0-6, 1-6. 

Team title time

The team tournament is underway and champions will be crowned in a little over a week.

Falmouth’s juggernaut girls’ team capped its seventh straight 12-0 regular season with a 5-0 home win over York last Wednesday. The Yachtsmen take a 121-match win streak into the Western A playoffs where they will be seeded second. Falmouth, which won six straight Class B championships before capturing Class A last spring, hosts No. 7 Cheverus (8-4) or No. 10 Deering (4-8) in the quarterfinals. The Yachtsmen didn’t play either team this year.

In Western B, defending champion Greely went 10-2 in the regular season and will host No. 7 Oak Hill (6-6) or No. 10 Lake Region (4-8) in the quarterfinals. The Rangers don’t play Oak Hill in the regular season and twice downed the Lakers by 4-1 scores.

Yarmouth finished 6-6 and sixth and goes to No. 3 Cape Elizabeth (9-3) for the quarterfinals. The Clippers lost, 4-1, at the Capers May 26.

Freeport finished 1-11, wound up 14th and missed the playoffs.

In Western C, North Yarmouth Academy earned the No. 4 seed after a 9-3 campaign, then had no trouble with fifth-ranked Carrabec in the quarterfinals Monday, winning, 5-0, to advance to the semifinals where the Panthers will visit top-ranked Hall-Dale (12-0).

On the boys’ side, defending Class A champion Falmouth earned the No. 3 seed after an 11-1 regular season. The Yachtsmen will play either No. 6 Scarborough (8-4) or No. 11 Kennebunk (5-7) in the quarterfinals.

In Western B, Yarmouth wound sixth after an 8-4 season and will play at No. 3 Fryeburg Academy (9-3) in the quarterfinals. On May 1, the Clippers lost at home to the Raiders, 4-1.

Greely went 4-8 and earned the No. 7 spot. The Rangers visit defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth (9-3) in the quarterfinals. Greely lost at the Capers, 5-0, May 4.

Freeport went 1-11 and missed the postseason.

In Western C, NYA went 1-11 and failed to qualify.

Schedule

The playoffs continue with the semifinals Saturday, on the courts of the higher seeds. The Western A, B and C Finals are Thursday, June 11 at Bates College in Lewiston. The state championship matches are Saturday, June 13, at Bates.

Sun Journal staff writer Mike Kraft contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.