Friday afternoon’s Durango High School girls tennis match against Grand Junction Central might have been one of the earliest senior day ceremonies in the state of Colorado, but the four players who were honored before play began were crucial in helping secure a 5-2 win to keep a perfect record in league play.
Three of Durango’s four seniors won, including No. 1 singles player Emma Hackett, No. 2 singles Lily Chick and the No. 1 doubles pair of Emma Jaber and Laura Clark, but the performances of the afternoon came from the newest singles player and a doubles team that had played together just before the season began.
“We definitely wanted to send a message to the teams who we are now in a region with,” said DHS head coach Darren Tarshis. “These early matches aren’t exactly a prediction for end-of-season success, but at the same time, it’s great to win on your home court, it’s great to have strong appearances in most of the spots, and now in the next few weeks we’re going to have to get to work.”
Rebecca Bowers, the No. 3 singles player, came back to win in three sets over Curtrice Hansen, 4-6, 6-1 and 10-7 in the tiebreaker. Bowers, who lost Thursday’s match to Montrose, said she was much more confident in her ground stroke game even after she lost the first set.
“I think my strategy was just to play it out and be patient and try not to win every point and wait for it,” Bowers said. “Yesterday, I had some of the same problems in that first set, but I got a lot of help from my coaches and tried to focus on different areas of my game. My forehand yesterday was giving me trouble, so I tried to focus on my backhand instead. I went for winners yesterday and, today, I just tried to make sure they landed in.
“The tiebreaker helped direct my focus because I had to concentrate on every point. I was previously a doubles player, and the mindset in that tiebreaker is really different because it’s just you out there.”
The other comeback win came from the No. 2 doubles team of Mia Boughton and Anna Fenberg, who defeated Preetha Patel and Maya Suto 7-5, 0-6, 10-7. After the win, Boughton and Fenberg were over the moon with their performance in the tiebreaker.
“I was missing my first serves and was kind of broken down inside, but I knew I had to keep going,” Boughton said. “Being down won’t help me at all, but once we got going in the third set, we were constantly trying to boost each other up because confidence is everything in doubles.”
Tarshis was impressed with their will to win.
“It’s great to see that mental toughness, and that’s really what we are looking for,” he said. “To be able to deal with unpredictable situations, especially Rebecca, to come back after losing the first set today and yesterday’s match, and then come back and really end on a high note, that’s her first success as a singles player. ... And then the doubles team, getting swept in that second set, that’s match No. 2 of the season type of tennis. Bouncing all over the place in a win or a loss, but when I look down our doubles line, they won today because they were each other’s therapists and willed each other to keep going.”
Hackett cruised past her opponent, 6-0, 6-1, while Chick had the same score.
Three seniors had played all four years, while Joey Mynatt joined last year but has been solid at the No. 4 doubles spot. Despite a loss Friday, she was still pleased with her performance.
“It was nice to get the senior ceremony at the beginning,” Jaber said. “It’s crazy to be here on this day after playing for so long, because not that long ago, we were just freshmen.”
“It hasn’t really hit us that this is senior year, and the significance of senior day hasn’t hit yet just because we still have a lot of our season to go,” Hackett added. “But anytime you can send a senior out with a win is special, no matter where it falls in the season.”
Durango will hit the road to take on Fruita Monument at 1:30 p.m. next Friday and then will make the short trek over to Grand Junction High School to play the Tigers at 3:30 p.m.
bploen@durangoherald.com
