Sports Reporter
The Caribou boys tennis team’s struggles at the beginning of the season are becoming a distant memory, based upon what the team has been able to accomplish over its last eight matches. After an 0-3 start, the Vikings have won seven of their last eight matches and are now the No. 5 team in Eastern Maine Class B, behind only Ellsworth, Presque Isle, Camden Hills and John Bapst.
The Vikes took three more matches this past week, 5-0 over Mattanawcook in their latest match Monday, 3-2 over Old Town Saturday and 4-1 over Fort Kent last Wednesday.
At Lincoln, Ezra Duplissie-Cyr defeated Patrick Kites, 8-3, in No. 1 singles, while Nick Willey blanked Tyler Wakefield in second singles, 8-0, and Jon Ouellette won by forfeit.
In doubles, the duo of Phil Smith and Matt Coty was too much for Matt Johnston and Rusty Phillips of the Lynx as they claimed an 8-1 win. The other Caribou doubles team, Lucien Caverhill and Tyler Willey, recorded an 8-2 win over Conner Smart and Selden Porter.
Hosting Old Town, Caribou received wins from Ouellette and both doubles teams to earn the close victory. At home against Fort Kent three days earlier, the only blemish was Nick Willey’s 8-3 loss in second singles to Alex Charette of the Warriors. Duplissie-Cyr beat Isaac Mitchell, 8-3, while Ouellette again won via forfeit. Smith and Coty combined for an 8-2 win in first singles, while Caverhill and Tyler Willey fought for an 8-5 triumph.
The Caribou girls remained perfect with three more 5-0 match wins over the same opponents: Mattanawcook, Old Town and Fort Kent.
Caribou is in second place in EM Class B at 11-0 and a 110.9028 tournament index, which did not figure in Monday’s win. The Vikes are approximately 30 points behind No. 1 Camden Hills (11-0, 141.8056).
Chalking up wins Monday against the Lynx were singles players Jenna Selander (an 8-0 winner over Catherine Chan), Laura Collins (an 8-1 winner over Nicole Ravosa Riordan) and Alexa Massey (an 8-3 winner over Haleigh Bond).
Also garnering victories were the doubles combinations of Missy Nadeau and Liz Barbosa (8-0 over Ciara Tolman and Katie Krapf) and Ashley Richards and Katie Keaton (8-1 winners over Jasmine Long and Kara-Beth Farrell).
Carlee Pinette was in the starting lineup Saturday against Old Town and managed an 8-1 victory over Sharon Gunning in second singles. Selander and Massey dropped just three games each in their singles wins, while the Nadeau-Barbosa and Richards-Keaton duo were even more dominant by dropping only one game.
Last Wednesday, Selander, Collins and Pinette were victorious in singles, while Nadeau-Barbosa and Richards-Massey were the successful doubles combos.
