May 23—LEWISTON — Morgan Warner earned a berth into the semifinals at the MPA girls state singles tournament on Monday, and it took knocking off a pair of area players to make it.
The Waynflete senior beat Edward Little’s Mya Vincent 6-0, 6-0 in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Lewiston’s Julia Svor 6-1, 6-1.
In the round of 16, the serve was big for Warner and Vincent.
“I was just trying to get the ball over the net,” Warner said. “I think my serve was a weapon.”
Vincent had to be more aggressive, especially on her first serve against Warner, who is heading to play Division I tennis at Providence College.
“I was just trying to experiment and have fun with it,” Vincent said of facing the No. 3 seed in the round of 16. “I wasn’t just trying to tap it in to get the (ball) in (play faster), so she had a harder time getting to it.”
Her aggressive play led to multiple double faults.
EL coach Kim Clark was pleased with the adjustment Vincent made to be more aggressive.
“She saw that right off, when she faulted right off and the second serve she took easy on it and (Warner) crushed it down the line every time,” Clark said. “She knew to be aggressive on the second serve. If it goes over, great, if it doesn’t, (at least you tried). (Warner), when she received a nice, easy serve you couldn’t move fast enough (to get her return).”
In the quarterfinals, Warner faced a tired Julia Svor, who had to come from behind in the round of 16 against Inga Zimba of Waterville, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Warner liked the challenge Svor provided her in the quarterfinal.
“(Julia) was able to get the ball in play and get to a lot of balls,” Warner said. “That was tricky.”
Warner also appreciated the fact that Svor won a game early in the first set to keep her mind focused.
Svor tried to get as much rest as possible during the hour-long break she had between her matches.
“I was just trying to cool down, just think what I might do, and just do my best (against Warner),” Svor said.
Unlike Vincent, Svor just tried to keep her approach simple.
“I was just trying to keep the ball in play,” Svor said.
Warner will take on Cape Elizabeth’s Blair Hollyday in the semis Monday morning.
In her first match of the day, Svor was pleased to grind out a win against Zimba to be able to face Warner.
“It felt amazing coming back from that first set. I was very tired,” Svor said.
Svor and Zimba battled in the first half of the first set, but Zimba pulled away to win, 6-3.
“In the first set, I was really focused,” Zimba said. “I was able to place the ball exactly where I wanted it. I was able to stay in control of the points and my serve was working well too.”
After dropping the first game in the second set, Svor won the next two games. The pair spilt the following two games. The pair traded points the next two games, but Svor came out of it with a 5-2 lead.
Zimba won the next two games to cut the deficit to 5-4 in the second set, but Svor won the next game to take the set.
“I just kept the ball in play. I just didn’t want (her) to use my errors (to her) advantage,” Svor said.
Zimba said Svor did a good job on returns in that second set.
In the first game of the third set, both players traded points, but Svor came out on top to take a 1-0 lead. They split the next two games.
Svor went on a run, winning five of the next six games to win the match.
“Julia, that was a great match,” Lewiston coach Anita Murphy said. “She did very well in her first match. After the first set, I said I want to see three sets today and she did.”
As for Julia’s twin sister Abby, she lost in the round of 16 to Anna Barnes of Brunswick, 6-2, 6-1.
In both sets, Abby won the first game, but Barnes could find a rhythm after that.
“I really tried to be consistent throughout the rest of the match because I was a little nervous going into it,” Barnes said. “I try not to let the (first game) affect me at all after just dropping the first game.”
Abby Svor said mistakes cost her.
“She was more consistent,” Abby said. “I would be the one making the errors.”
However, Svor was in a lot of games.
“Abby, she just didn’t have it today,” Murphy said. “Those unforced errors cost her. She had a chance to pull out quite a few games. I don’t know if it was nerves or what it was.”
At the end of the day, Murphy is proud of both of her players.
“I am so very pleased with them. It’s their senior year, it’s been great for them,” Murphy said. “I think they are happy with themselves.”