Erskine girls tennis coach Shara MacDonald uses the traditional format of "challenge" or "ladder" matches (players on the same team squaring off against each other) to determine where players will fall in the starting lineup. This system produced two inspiring doubles pairings of Astrid Gleason and Renee Robilliard at No. 1 and Katey Reitchell and Danielle Johnson at No. 2.

Both doubles teams are 3-1, and MacDonald said the chemistry on the court is obvious with both pairings.

"It's pretty natural," MacDonald said. "Astrid and Renee tend to be more talkative. I wouldn't call it goofy, but they have a natural sense of humor, and they get along really well, and I think Danielle and Katey have been friends since their freshman year of high school."

Erskine is 1-3 as a team, but MacDonald was pleased with a 3-2 loss to Brunswick, which she points to as evidence that the Eagles are improving.

"I know they were missing some of their starters," she said. "They were missing last year, too, and we didn't win those games."

The improvement, MacDonald said, comes from playing tennis in the offseason. That has helped Erskine withstand the loss of Meg Kruithoff, who was slated to play No. 2 singles before suffering a season-ending injury.

"The girls have worked so hard," MacDonald said. "It's been a real pleasant surprise to see how well they've played."

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The Cony girls picked up their first win Saturday with a 3-2 victory over Mt. Blue. The Rams are still tweaking their lineup, as Blaire Burney has played No. 2 singles and filled in at No. 1 while Chelsea Tobias worked her way back from a knee injury, and freshman Taylor Edmondson and sophomore Brittany Yorks are having a nice competition for the No. 3 spot.

"I feel that we are on the upswing," Cony coach Carol Patenaude said. "We're figuring out where people need to play. The weather last week enabled us to get a lot of practice time."

Patenaude also coaches the Cony boys and girls junior varsity teams, although Lynn Allerding has recently come on board to help out and be with the JV teams in case of a schedule conflict.

"We had 30 girls come out, and I really didn't want to have cuts," Patenaude said. "I felt to keep tennis going and for them to have a skill set, they need to play."

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Messalonskee graduate Deahna Giguere was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Giguere is a freshman at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., and plays No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles for the Purple Knights.

Giguere has a record of 10-4 at singles this season and a 10-6 mark at doubles. On Friday, she won her singles match 6-2, 6-2 and was part of a doubles team that won 8-5 as St. Michael's defeated Southern New Hampshire University, 5-4, in the conference semifinals. The win not only put the Knights in the conference title match, but also set a school record for wins in a season with 15.

St. Michael's lost to Bryant in the NE-10 championship, but the Knights are still expecting an invitation to the NCAA tournament field, which will be announced Wednesday.

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The Messalonskee boys are off to a 2-0 start with a mix of veterans (about two-thirds of the roster is seniors) and a newcomer (coach Ed Hinkley is in his first season).

"The kids think they have a good chance for a good season," Hinkley said. "They've been around for a while."

Hinkley said Caroline Mathes, who coached the boys last year and still coaches the Messalonskee girls, gave him some tips on who should play where. But the Eagles haven't had a chance for ladder matches, so they're still fine-tuning their singles lineup. Currently, Spencer Churchill is at No. 1, with Mike Avery at No. 2 and Jamie Mattison at No. 3.

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com