Amidst not knowing who their coach was going to be to begin the season, the Durango High School girls tennis team found a solution to its coaching problem and won the home opener.
After playing in Grand Junction all weekend to open the season, the Demons, coached by Sue Lawton, returned home Tuesday and defeated Montezuma-Cortez six matches to one.
Maggie Hackett defeated Sky Cole 6-3, 6-0, and Hannah Liberman beat Laurel Chappell 6-4, 6-1 to secure singles victories for DHS.
Durango senior Sarah Harrelson was stumped on the day, losing to Raquel Lucero 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.
The Demons saw strong performances from their doubles teams, taking all four matches on the day.
Audrey Morris and Hailee Pritchard defeated Ashley Moore and Kristen Pierce 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 position.
“It went well; I love playing with Hailee,” said Morris, daughter of Alan and Karen Morris. “I’m excited for this season. I think we will have a really good team. This is a nice build up for the senior season.”
Durango has a strong group of doubles teams, as twin sisters Chloe and Emily West beat Andria Battle and Angel Veach 6-1, 6-0. Ellie Gervais and Emma Hackett beat Jennifer Sturman and Courtney Coukerek 6-0, 6-1.
Ruby DeCora and Jenna Engelken didn’t allow any game points, defeating Aubre Rice and Ronnie Dennison 6-0, 6-0.
So far, Durango is piecing its season together with what it can. Prior to the season starting, the Demons were left without a head coach. Volunteers, parents and former coaches held practices and even drove the team to Grand Junction before landing on a head coach.
Lawton was named the coach last week, and so far it has been a smoother transition than originally thought.
Lawton is the assistant coach on Durango’s swimming and diving team. While she doesn’t have a deep tennis background, Lawton knows the ins and outs of coaching. She is already making an impression on the team with her unifying presence.
“She’s been so great for the team,” Morris said. “We have team dinners, which brings the team together.”
Lawton has ties to the Durango girls tennis team. Her daughter, Julie Lawton, played doubles for three seasons under former head coach Dave Weisfeldt.
When there was no coach available, Lawton volunteered to help with the team and was soon asked to be the coach. She said she couldn’t say no because of her friendship with Weisfeldt and desire to help the girls.
She isn’t doing the coaching all on her own. Lawton has a slew of volunteers and assistant coaches helping her along the way, which has become a sort of a community-style coaching year. Linda Fitts-Liberman is a volunteer assistant coach along with three varsity players from the boys team. Micah Hwang, Luke Jernigan and Luke Meyer have all stepped up to help the girls.
And, of course, Weisfeldt is there to lean on.
“Dave is my hero,” said Lawton, who has lived in Durango for the past 14 years. “He gives me a lot of feedback on what the girls need to work on, so he’s been super helpful. I’m not doing this alone, it feels like a village.”
When nobody was available to take the team to Grand Junction, it was Weisfeldt who delivered and drove the bus for the away trip.
If their match Tuesday against the Panthers is any indication, the Demons will have a good season in store despite the mystery surrounding the head coaching position.
“We’re pretty strong and very deep,” Lawton said. “We have some seasoned players, which is awesome. I hope to get at least three teams to state.
“The girls have been patient with me, they’re a great bunch of girls who are easy to coach.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
