Mon, 04/27/2015 - 7:00am

RYAN LEIGHTON, News Contributor

The 2015 Boothbay Region High School girls tennis team. From left, Chloe Hoecker, Anna Baumm, Mackenzie Colby, Angela Machon, Madison Gaudette, Emma Rideout, Ellie Demmons, Eve Dolloff, and Coach Alex Arsenault. Missing from photo is Denise Stover. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Ellie Demmons lunges for a backhand, while teammate Madison Gaudette looks on from the doubles alley. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Boothbay’s Anna Baumm serves in a singles match against Carrabec’s Jerzee Stevens. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Carrabec Cobras line up with Boothbay Lady Seahawks to greet each other before the match. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Ellie Demmons lunges for a backhand, while teammate Madison Gaudette looks on from the doubles alley. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Boothbay’s Anna Baumm serves in a singles match against Carrabec’s Jerzee Stevens. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

Carrabec Cobras line up with Boothbay Lady Seahawks to greet each other before the match. RYAN LEIGHTON/Boothbay Register

The Boothbay Region High School girls’ tennis team opened the regular season on Friday, April 24 with a 4-1 loss at home against Carrabec High School.

Despite the loss, this season is the first time the Lady Seahawks tennis team has been able to play on the new courts since construction began two years ago. Coach Alex Arsenault said he is excited about what the future holds now for the BRHS tennis program.

“We’re pretty young,” Arsenault said. “But we have a junior lineup that’s been playing for three to four years now, and we have a bunch of athletic underclassmen. So by the end of the season, I think we should be really good.”

Boothbay’s varsity team closed out the season with a solid 8-3 record last year, which earned them fifth place in the Western Maine Class C Conference. With the departure of three seniors, and the loss of a foreign exchange student, Arsenault said he is continuing to focus on the fundamentals and hoping to improve throughout the season.

“We talked a lot in the preseason about playing with a lot of heart, and playing really hard because we have a really athletic, talented team,: Arsenault said. “So how hard they try is how well we’ll do.”

Nine players fill the Boothbay ranks this year. They are senior Chloe Hoecker, juniors and tri-captains, Mackenzie Colby, Anna Baumm and Angela Machon, junior Ellie Demmons, sophomore Emma Rideout, and freshmen Madison Gaudette, Denise Stover and Eve Dolloff.

Of the several matches played on April 24, only Mackenzie Colby was victorious in her singles match, defeating Carrabec’s Debbie Ellis in two sets (6-2, and 6-1). Several matches were close in score and included tiebreakers, but in the end the Cobras prevailed.

As the season progresses, Arsenault said he anticipates tough competition from rivals St. Dom’s and Hall-Dale high schools, two teams that dominated in the Western Maine Class C Conference.

Boothbay will play its next match in Wiscasset on Monday, April 27. The team will host Winthrop on Wednesday, April 29, and then travel to Lisbon on Friday, May 1. All games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.