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Hackett, West twins ready to shine for Durango tennis at CHSAA state tournament

Durango girls tennis will send a trio to state tennis

Dave Weisfeldt will need more than a motorcycle and a sidecar to travel to the state tennis tournament this semester.

After taking one boys player to the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A state championships in the fall, Weisfeldt will bring three girls players to Pueblo for this spring’s tournament, which will open Thursday morning in Pueblo.

“Getting to the state tournament is always our goal for each player. With that being the top goal, maybe it helps take pressure off the girls when they get to state,” Weisfeldt said. “It’s a great experience for everyone who ever gets to go with all the hoopla that goes into it.”

DHS will bring No. 3 singles player Kit Hackett, a senior, and two sophomores at No. 4 doubles with twin sisters Chloe and Emily West.

Hackett has a chance to end her high school playing days in style, as she has rounded into top form the last two weeks with six wins that included a regional championship.

“I feel like state is my time to shine and to play a really good match,” said Hackett, who will open Thursday morning against Discovery Canyon freshman Sydney Smith in the bottom half of the bracket. “When I made it as a sophomore at No. 1 doubles, I lost in the first round. The goal this year is to make it past the first round.”

Hackett, daughter of Dan Hackett and Denise Cleaves, has added several more weapons to her game in recent weeks, and she said more consistent serving will be the key to success.

“If I can hold serve, that’s at least three easy games each set I can win,” she said. “I have to remember to move my feet, stay smooth and calm after that.”

“She can bring a lot to the table,” Weisfeldt added.

Hackett comes from a tennis family. Her father played Division I at Texas Tech, and she has a cousin who played for Penn State.

Her younger sister, Maggie, also was Durango’s No. 2 singles player this season as a sophomore.

“Me and my sister set a goal, a bucket list type thing, to both go to state. She lost the first round of regionals, so that’s too bad, but at least I’m going,” Hackett said.

The West girls are playing varsity tennis for the first time this season. The daughters of Christine and John Kitts didn’t start the season playing on the same doubles squad but eventually came together at the No. 4 doubles position and haven’t looked back.

“We’re really excited for this great experience as sophomores,” Emily West said. “We have a love hat relationship on the court, but we know each other so well we can use code words and other silly things we do together.”

Chloe West said she wasn’t even sure she would make varsity this season but has been happy to settle into the roster alongside her sister.

“Sometimes we treat each other more like sisters than teammates, and sometimes we let our habits get in the way and we lose a match,” Chloe West said. “But it also helps us to play together a lot.”

The Wests will open the tournament against Windsor’s Maria D’Rosario and Bree Peters. If they can win in the first round, a match against top-seed Ashley Nock and Mary Yeros of Vail Christian likely awaits.

“We’re going for first. We might as well shoot high, because we don’t want to go into it with a negative mind-set.”

Weisfeldt hopes the experience will help motivate the Wests as they grow in the program in years to come.

He’s also looking forward to the state experience, where he gets to focus entirely on the players who have reached state instead of scrambling between four or five courts at a time.

The players appreciate Weisfeldt, too. He tried to retire from coaching two seasons ago and didn’t coach Hackett during her state trip as a sophomore. He came back when the team needed a coach, and he’s stuck with the DHS boys and girls teams as long as they’ve needed him.

“He makes tennis so much fun,” Hackett said. “The best thing about coach is he knows how to make us laugh when we’re feeling down.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com

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