Windham varsity girls’ tennis crushes Marshwood

By Matt Pascarella

In its season home opening matches, Windham High’s varsity girls’ tennis team took the court against Marshwood on Friday, April 26 and in a total team effort, WHS earned its first win of 2024 by defeating the Hawks, 4-1.

Windham senior Madeline Dumont returns a serve during
a girls' prep tennis match against Marshwood at Windham
High School on Friday, April 26.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“Windham was moving their opponents around and drop shotting went really well,” said Windham varsity girls’ assistant coach Natalie Egbert. “They need to work more on their serves and just consistency, rallying. Overall, it was a good first match.”

In singles matches, Windham senior Alyssa Conley won her first set 6-4, lost the second, 4-6 and then won the tiebreaker 12-10. Windham senior Taylor Juhase lost the first set 5-7, won the second set, 6-4, but lost the tiebreaker, 6-10.

Windham sophomore Jasmine Lucas defeated her Marshwood opponent, 6-4 and 6-2. In doubles matches, Windham senior Alejandra Hidell and junior Afomyia Timerga won, 6-2 and 6-1. Windham seniors Madeline Dumont and Samantha Bell forced a tiebreaker after winning, 6-2, and losing 4-6; they won their hard-fought final match, 11-9.

“Sam [Bell] is a really great partner and I think we work really well together,” said Dumont. “Marshwood were definitely reasonable opponents and I’m really happy with how we pulled through at the end. We just looked at each other and said, ‘we got to do this; we know it’s late, we know we’re tired ... we locked in and got it done.’ We had a lot of really good alley shots as well as really good serving. Considering it’s the first match of the season, I think it went pretty well, but just communicating on the court needs work.”

Windham had been able to get roughly three weeks of practice in and their abilities on the court showed it. Players in all matches kept their focus on the ball and moved their feet fast and frequently. Everyone put in a strong effort.

According to Juhase, Marshwood did a good job of making her run for the ball. Juhase was able to hit it pretty far back and her placement was ok, but not the best. She threw her shoulder out in the first set; and in the second game and it messed up her serves; she got in her head a little and had to switch to doing softy serves instead of hard ones. She was pleased with how she played and said the games were really close.

"It was really good,” said Lucas. “Once I kind of got in a rhythm, I did well. I won the first four games of the first set and lost the next four. After that I got in a good rhythm and won the next second. Consistency still needs work, and I could improve my serve a bit.” <

Windham girls’ tennis remains undefeated by defeating Bonny Eagle

By Matt Pascarella

Coming off back-to-back wins against Westbrook and Deering, the Windham girls’ tennis team played an intense match at Bonny Eagle on Friday, April 28 and walked away with a 4-1 win after the doubles teams had two tiebreaker sets, one which ended in a super tiebreaker.

Windham senior Grace Paiement keeps her focus on the ball
during a girls' prep tennis match against Bonny Eagle at
Bonny Eagle High School on Friday, April 28.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

“The singles players are really strong,” said Windham girls’ tennis coach Katy Dresnok. “Doubles are really close, that’s been really fun; they’re getting really good competition.”

Dresnok said that this year’s team is the best she’s ever had because they all have experience and are able to build on existing skills. It makes such a difference when they can build on skills from year to year. The more time you put into the game, the more it can make a difference.

Windham players were focused and quick on their feet, as they stayed with the ball and put in strong efforts across the board.

In the singles sets, Windham junior Alyssa Conley won her sets, 6-0, and 6-0, senior Grace Paiement won, 6-0, and 6-2. Freshman Jasmine Lucas won, 6-3, and 6-3.

“We were all a little nervous and not really sure what to go in, but I think just staying strong and our team has been working really hard this year,” said Paiement. “I was able to hold her strong and play her out until I could win the point and stay more consistent.”

Paiement said the team played strong against Bonny Eagle.

Lucas said that no matter the strength of the opponent, always do your best. She thought in the second set that mentality was getting away from her, but she was able to get back in the right mindset.

According to Lucas, this was a more competitive match than the previous two matches. Her opponent was a solid player and could really return. Lucas stayed consistent. She said the team did very well.

In the doubles sets, Windham juniors Taylor Juhase and Samantha Bell won, 7-6, and 7-6.

“We started poaching – switching from side to side on our serves and communication has gotten a lot better,” said Juhase. Both Bell and Juhase agreed that Bonny Eagle was an even match for them.

Sophomore Katelyn Cotter and senior Breeauna Bonin played a super tiebreaker but lost 10-12. Their other sets were 6-7 and 6-4.

Cotter said they were a little out of sync in the first set and felt pressured, but once she and Bonin realized they needed to play slower and smarter, it turned their sets around. Team support made a difference during the sets and Bonin thought communication with Cotter during the match was outstanding. <

Windham girls’ tennis defeats Biddeford in first-round playoff

By Matt Pascarella

The Lady Eagles had played Biddeford early in the Class A tennis playoffs last year and came out on top and this year was no exception as Windham defeated the Tigers 4-1 in the Class A South first-round and will advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Windham sophomore Samantha Bell returns a serve on
Tuesday, May 31 at Windham High against Biddeford in the
Class A South first round playoff match. 
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

After ending the season with an 8-4 record, The No. 5 Windham girls’ tennis team hosted No. 12 Biddeford in a first-round playoff match on Tuesday, May 31.

Windham was focused, quick on their feet and had several nice return serves, both in Lady Eagles’ singles and doubles matches.

In the singles matches, Windham sophomore Alyssa Conley beat her Biddeford opponent 6-1 and 6-1.

Windham junior and co-captain Grace Paiement defeated Biddeford 6-2, 6-1. 

“We were all excited, because playoffs,” said Paiement. “We were hopeful because we played Biddeford last year and we want to get through to ... the next round. I thought I played pretty well; I went in strong and stayed strong.”  

Paiement said they are excited and hopeful to keep going during playoffs.

Windham senior and singles player Lauren DeLuca lost 4-6, 1-6.

In the doubles matches Windham sophomores Samantha Bell and Taylor Juhase grabbed 6-0 and 6-2 wins.

Windham freshman and doubles player Katelyn Cotter said the match was going to be good, no matter the score because of how the girls have played this season.

She said she and her doubles partner, junior Breeauna Bonin, stayed in sync and communicated which had a big effect on the positive outcome of their matches. She’s excited for the rest of playoffs.

Cotter and Bonin won their matches 6-1 and 6-1.

Windham girls’ tennis coach Katy Dresnok said the girls felt confident going in and she’s seen improvement leading up to this point. She said doubles communication went really well as well as learning how to keep the ball away from the net player. In the singles matches they kept the ball in play and had better timing of when to execute the point with the winner.

Windham advanced to compete in the Class A South Tennis Quarterfinals on Thursday, June 2. <

Windham girls’ basketball shows improvement against Bangor

Varsity senior Sarah Talon heads to the hoop mid-air
during Windham's girls' prep basketball game against Bangor
at home on Jan. 14. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham girls’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams played two great games against Bangor at home where they fought until the end on Jan. 14.

After Bangor beat the varsity team by almost 30 points at Bangor in a year-end game, the Lady Eagles showed the Rams that would not happen again. In a very close game, Bangor tried but Windham held them off and won 46-40.

The JV team wanted to take home a win too and worked hard to do so. Bangor jumped to an early lead and could not be caught. Windham did not get down on themselves and stuck with it until the end. Bangor got a 50-22 win.

Varsity

Windham senior Kayla Flanders got the game going with a three-pointer. This was followed up quickly by junior Elizabeth Levesque who sunk another three-pointer.

Windham was quick to grab rebounds and jumped out to an early lead.

The game turned close when Bangor pulled ahead by one. After Windham senior Carly Morey and Flanders each hit three-pointers, Windham pulled away again. Windham led 29-20 at the half.

Windham sophomore Brooke Gerry sunk a three. Bangor was grabbing rebounds and catching up.

With 1:44 left on the clock Windham led by five. With 5.7 seconds left they led by six and stayed ahead until the buzzer.

“I think we knew what happened last game and we wanted to ... move on,” said senior Sarah Talon. “We had all this week to make adjustments and learn from our mistakes last game. It was a really good team win.”

Windham girls’ basketball coach Brody Artes said going into this game they knew they needed to be tougher physically and mentally. Artes said Windham executed, defended, and rebounded better this game. He was very happy with the team for the turnaround and said a lot of kids stepped up and made big plays.

Junior Varsity

Bangor took an early lead. Windham worked well as they passed, but this led to turnovers as Bangor was quick to interfere.

Windham freshman Dakota Small added points to the scoreboard. So did freshman Chloe Edwards. Windham defense was better in the second quarter, as they allowed Bangor fewer scoring opportunities. At halftime Bangor was ahead 23-11.

“We moved the ball really well and did a good job working as a team,” said sophomore Alyssa Conley. “We talked a lot on defense and were a cohesive unit; never getting down on one another, always picking each other up.”

Windham made a bit of a comeback in the second half as they slowly gained; the effort was there, but not all shots were falling. Windham stayed positive but couldn’t catch Bangor.

“We really have been focusing on rebounding in that getting second chance opportunities on offense and limiting their chances on defense,” said Windham JV coach Gretchen Anderson. “Bangor’s press caused us a little bit of trouble, but again, we are learning and adjusting. I’m really proud of how ... they played, they kept their heads up and played really hard.” <