Nasty weather and sloppy conditions over the weekend didn’t bother the Durango High School girls tennis team.
The Demons traveled to Grand Junction for the two-day Delta Invitational and finished third out of 10 teams. Hannah Liberman and Emily West both had second place efforts in singles and were joined by Chloe West and Emma Hackett’s second place finish in doubles to lead Durango.
Liberman was clutch on Friday after losing the first game in both of her matches.
Unfazed by the slow start, she rallied to win her first match with a 10-5 win against Vail Mountain in the third set tiebreaker.
The second match’s game one was even worse as Liberman lost 6-2 but came back to with the next set and won the tiebreaker 10-5 again to set up a first-place match against Paonia for Saturday. She was unable to rally in the final and settled for a second-place finish after dropping both sets 6-3, 6-4.
It was an easier road for DHS’ No. 3 singles, Emily West, who made quick work of the competition on Friday. West beat Fruita 6-4, 6-3, and Steamboat 6-3, 6-1 to reach Saturday’s final. She also came up short, however, losing to Grand Junction Central 6-4, 6-2.
Durango’s No. 1 doubles team of Emma Hackett and Chloe West needed three wins to make it to Saturday’s final match and they did just that. The team steamrolled Paonia (6-2, 6-1) and Cedaredge (6-0, 6-0) before dropping Montrose for their third win Friday.
The duo started Saturday’s action with a 6-3 win in the first game against Grand Junction Central, but couldn’t close the door as Central’s No. 1 team won the last two sets 6-3 to win first place.
Number two singles player Ellie Gervais finished 2-1 on the weekend and took fifth place after her 6-3, 6-1 Saturday win against Delta. The No. 2 doubles, Ryann Daly and Lily Chick, were 2-1 Friday with wins against Glenwood Springs and Cedaredge. They were on the losing end of a tiebreaker, Saturday against Paonia, and had to settle for sixth.
The No. 3 doubles team of Mira Joyner and Emma Jaber lost two close ones on Friday as did the No. 4 doubles team of Natalie Serwe and Clara Storch.
Durango will be back on the courts for 5 p.m. matches at Montezuma-Cortez on April 12.
heraldsports@ durangoherald.com
