The Durango High School girls tennis team will have to work its way back into the tournament after all four first-round matchups ended in defeat for the Demons at a weather-delayed opening day of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A girls tennis state tournament Friday at Pueblo City Park.
The tournament was condensed into two days as opposed to the usual three because of poor weather. Thursday’s first-round matchups were pushed until Friday. More wet conditions Friday led morning play to be postponed until noon.
After the first of two days, perennial powerhouses Cheyenne Mountain and Niwot are tied for first place with 19 points each. Six of the seven positions from each school advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.
Golden is in third place with 12 points, while Mullen is in fourth with 10. The Demons did not score any points.
“All four spots played a good Front Range team, and everybody fought hard,” Durango head coach Darren Tarshis said. “Even though nobody was able to advance to the second round, spirits are high at the end of the day. Now we just sit back and wait. Hopefully, somebody that beat us makes it to the finals, we’ll get a playback.”
Durango was led by No. 1 singles player senior Emma Hackett, who lost her first-round match to Josie Schaffer, a senior from Kent Denver who is a two-time state champion at the No. 1 singles spot and was last year’s state runner-up. Schaffer won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.
“(Schaffer) was certainly a really strong player, and Emma could hit with her,” Tarshis said. “They had some deuce games. Emma had some game points she wasn’t able to covert on. Schaffer was really talented, and it’s entirely different from a regional. This is why we want to bring kids, so they could be tested.”
At the No. 2 singles position, captain Lily Chick, who won her regional last week, was beaten by Mullen’s Mikayla Phelps 6-4, 6-1. Chick went up 3-0 in the first set, but Phelps found her groove and went on to win the first set 6-4. After the solid opening games, Chick ran into trouble in the form of a nose injury.
“Lily had a rough start,” Tarshis said. “She had to have a trainer on her court in the very first game ... After that, she fought for every point and battled, but things didn’t go her way the rest of the match after she lost the early lead.”
In doubles action, DHS’ No. 1 team of Rebecca Bowers and Laura Clark lost to Thompson Valley’s Danielle Sobraske and Emily Black, 6-1, 6-4.
At the No. 3 doubles slot, first-time qualifiers Jenna Baker and Anna Fenberg fell to Niwot foes Anna Sallee and Georgia Lang, 6-3, 6-1.
“Those two came in and had one of our closest matches against Niwot, which was good to see,” Tarshis said. “Those two are really first-year varsity players, and they just had fun out there in their first appearance. For them to get this chance is huge for the future.”
In order for a Demon to get a second match on Saturday, the player or doubles pair that beat Durango must make the final of their respective bracket. Schaffer, Phelps and the doubles teams of Sobraske and Black and Sallee and Lang all advanced to the semifinals.
The semifinals and playback matches are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at Pueblo City Park.
bploen@durangoherald.com
