The Durango High School boys tennis team ended the regular season on a high note Saturday morning at Durango High School, as the Demons defeated Grand Junction Central with a 5-2 victory to sweep the season series against the Warriors.
The Demons (2-8, 2-3 4A Region 8) won in all three singles positions, and head coach Alan Batiste switched up his lineup for Saturday’s match after the team dropped a doubleheader to Grand Junction on Friday afternoon.
At the No. 1 singles spot, sophomore Ethan Craig defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-0.
“I thought I played well today,” said Craig, who will try to return to the state meet. “I was super tired after having a long day against Junction yesterday. We’ve played Central a lot, and, compared to the other times I’ve played them, it went pretty well, all things considered. Usually, I have a pretty fast serve and slow it down on my second serve, but today I pretty much just hit second serves because my arm was really tired after serving for so long yesterday. But, it worked out well, and I was pretty consistent on it and didn’t give away a lot of points, which I’ve struggled with a lot.”
The other two winners for the Demons at the singles slots included senior Will Lammons, who has primarily held the No. 1 position throughout the season. He won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, and No. 3 singles player, sophomore Elias Fiddler, won 6-0, 6-4.
Lammons, a senior who also plays on the Demon soccer team, said that despite not playing up to his usual standards, he still felt good about his victory.
“I still feel that there’s a lot of work to be done before the regional meet in terms of reps, but it was still a good way to end the season,” Lammons said. “This next week, I just need to make sure I go out and hit as many balls as possible.”
Durango was able to close out the match with another straight set victory at the No. 3 doubles position, where the duo of Calan Barnhart and Aeden Hall won 6-2, 6-4.
Despite a loss, the No. 1 doubles team of Noah Pritchard and Nick Dudley lost in a three-set tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-4, 14-12. Pritchard and Hall had match point three separate times in the tiebreaker but could not close out the victory.
Batiste said the switching up of lineups helped the Demons play new opponents, and he wanted to challenge the squad in their final test of the regular season.
“I think it’s a confidence booster for the kids,” Batiste said. “It was just really good to see them smiling and having fun and, even the games we lost, they were competitive. It was just good to go into regionals with this win under our belts.”
The fourth doubles team of sophomore Andy Rodriguez and freshman Carter Ward ended the match on a high note with the Demons fifth straight-set victory on the day, as they won 6-1, 6-4.
Despite being paired up for only the second time all season, Ward and Rodriguez felt they understood each other’s roles and communicated more effectively than the previous pairing.
“We decided to change up a few things that we didn’t do last time,” Rodriguez said. “Our communication was horrid last time. But this time, we talked, gave ourselves signals to let each other know how to play the point.”
The freshman and sophomore will gear up for the regional for the first time for the Demons.
“I think the key for us will to be to not over think it because it’ll be our first time at state,” Rodriguez said. “So, we don’t expect a lot of pressure, and we’ll try to be playing loose.”
Batiste said the next week will be all about hammering home consistent play.
“We’re going to really stress getting better on ground strokes and getting our first serves in,” Batiste said. “We’ve got to get more consistent. It’s what you have to have when you get down to playoff time, and if you’ve taut all of the things, you’ve seen how they play all season, it really just comes down to doing things consistently from here on out.”
Regional play for the Demons will be held Oct. 3, and official seedings and player pairings will come out next week.
bploen@durangoherald.com
