> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bedford sweeps doubles to rally past Portsmouth, win D2 title - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bedford-sweeps-doubles-to-rally-past-portsmouth-win-d2-title/ - Published: 2011-06-03T06:00:41.000Z - Updated: 2011-06-03T06:00:41.000Z - Description: CONCORD – The Bedford High School girls tennis team was never out of Thursday’s Division II championship match against Portsmouth. But for a while, things really didn’t look good for the Bulldogs. - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division II, Spring Sports, Bedford, girls tennis, playoffs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bhsgirlstennis0602-bhstennis8.jpg "BHSgirlstennis0602 BHStennis8") CONCORD – The Bedford High School girls tennis team was never out of Thursday’s Division II championship match against Portsmouth. But for a while, things really didn’t look good for the Bulldogs. Bedford trailed 4-2 after the singles matches, faced with the challenge of winning all three doubles matches if it wanted to win the school’s first girls tennis title. Win all three matches is just what the top-seeded Bulldogs did. Bedford (16-1) held on for a win at No. 3 doubles first, and then won two incredibly close matches in short succession to defeat No. 3 Portsmouth 5-4. “We left ourselves an uphill battle, but I knew that we were built for doubles,” Bedford coach Peter Gagnon said. “I’ve been talking to them all week, knowing that we are a more aggressive team in doubles.” During the regular season, Portsmouth was the only team to beat Bedford. But in that 6-3 loss, the Bulldogs won two of three doubles matches. Gagnon thought that if Bedford could get out of the singles matches tied at 3, it would be in great shape. “I told them before the match, I liked our chances in the doubles, but I really would have liked it if we could go in even,” Gagnon said. “We were really pushing for that split in singles, and I think we knew that we’d be confident to at least pick up two of the doubles. To sweep the doubles and to win in that fashion, it’s really overwhelming.” While the coach was overwhelmed, some of the players were so surprised they pulled out the win, it took a few moments for the celebration to begin. When Bedford’s No. 1 doubles team of Jacinda Williams and Katie HoSang won their match to clinch the title, they shook hands with Portmouth’s Lindsay Duplessis and Kenzie Rhodes and walked off the court. A few teammates asked if they’d won, and Williams nodded, setting of a celebration that included Silly String and plenty of expressions of disbelief on both sides. “It was really shocking, that’s probably why it was silent,” Williams said. “I didn’t know that the two doubles won. I didn’t know how that ended. I was watching to see the scores, but I was trying to focus on our match so we could win.” Bedford needed that focus across the board after losing some close singles matches. The Bulldogs got out to a 2-0 lead, as Ellen Wheeler defeated Eliza McLeod 8-2 in the No. 6 match and Stephanie Johnson beat Savannah Podero 8-3 in the No. 4 match. Rhodes pulled away late from Mackenzie Phelps, winning the No. 3 match 8-3 to make it 2-1, but Bedford appeared to be in good shape in the other singles matches. HoSang had a 5-2 lead on Duplessis in the No. 1 match, while Williams and Jennifer Cutliffe had one-game leads over Ally Greco and Gabrielle Nichols in the No. 2 and 5 matches respectively. But Duplessis rallied, winning six of the final seven games to take an 8-6 win over HoSang, and Williams couldn’t hang on against Greco, falling 8-6\. As players and fans gathered around to watch the final match, Nichols pulled out an 8-6 win over Cutliffe to give Portsmouth its 4-2 lead. All the momentum was with the Clippers (14-3), and Gagnon used the break in between to try to pump up his team “I told them I believed in them,” Gagnon said. “I think they’ve always fed off our coaching energy and I just tried to remain calm. Of course it wasn’t over. Of course we still had a chance. Of course we were going to battle, we were going to give it out all. We were going to need some breaks.” Wheeler and Cutliffe got out to a 5-0 lead in the No. 3 match against Nichols and McLeod and held on for an 8-5 win to make it 4-3. The other two matches were shaping up for a tight finish. At No. 2 doubles, Phelps and Johnson were going back and forth with Greco and Podero. Bedford’s duo took a 4-3 lead, Portsmouth came back to go up 5-4, Bedford went ahead 7-6 and Portsmouth rallied for an 8-7 lead. The Bulldogs forced a tiebreaker and came back to win that and the match 9-8 (9-7) to put it all on the No.1 match. “We had to go all out for that tiebreaker or else it was going to go to Portsmouth,” Phelps said. “It was really a challenge.” The No. 1 match was tied at 2 when Williams and HoSang and Duplessis and Rhodes played the longest game of the afternoon. Both teams had opportunities to win the match, but neither could. “I think we were tied at that point, but we needed that game,” Williams said. “We focused and said we need to keep our heads in the game.” Bedford got the win, but Portsmouth won the next three games to go up 5-3\. Williams and HoSang again fought back, winning five of the final six matches to take an 8-6 win. “We didn’t even realize that the match was over,” said Phelps, who had left the court only a few minutes before the final point. “Our match was really close, it could have gone either way. Two points decided the entire thing. It’s just an amazing feeling, I can’t even describe it, I’m so happy.”