The Durango High School boys tennis team finished its regular season by playing Grand Junction High School and Grand Junction Central High School on Friday and Saturday.
Durango fell to 4A No. 3-ranked Grand Junction 7-0 Friday and 1-6 Saturday while beating Central 4-3 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
“We had a strong last weekend of our regular season against Grand Junction and Central High School,” said DHS head coach Todd Jolley. “We were able to get more games and wins the second day than the first, which was our goal.”
Against Central, Griffin Hall lost in a tiebreaker at No. 1 singles on Friday, 6-3, 3-6 and 7-10. On Saturday, Hall responded by scoring a two-set win, 6-2 and 6-2.
Calan Barnhardt and Rowan Hall also won their singles matches Saturday for Durango.
“Singles swept against Central this morning, which was a huge improvement for them,” Jolley said Saturday.
Barnhardt and Rowan Hall also won their matches Friday.
At No. 2 singles, Barnhardt won 6-3, 6-1 Saturday and 6-1, 6-0 Friday.
At No. 3 singles, Rowan Hall won 6-2 and 6-5 Saturday and 6-2, 6-3 Friday.
Durango’s No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams also beat Central on both days.
Leo Stritikus and Hays Stritikus won 6-3 and 6(7)-6(3) Friday and 6-4, 6-2 Saturday at No. 2 doubles.
At No. 3 doubles, Will Benac and Nate Claassen won 6-3, 6-4 and then 6-3, 4-6 and 10-6.
At No. 1 and No. 4 doubles, Carter Ward and Tanner Coddington and Hunter Gray and Michael Shires had some close matches with Central, but were unable to score a win.
Grand Junction, which will be the team’s toughest competition at the regional championships Oct. 7-8 this year, managed to beat DHS both days.
On Friday, the Stritikus brothers had the closest match against the Tigers, but saw their tiebreaker winning streak end in a tight game, 5-7, 6-0 and 8-10.
On Saturday, Hunter Gray and Michael Shires stepped up and got the team’s lone win against the Tigers, scoring a 6(7)-6(1) and 6-3 victory.
Durango’s junior varsity also competed over the weekend, winning five matches while only dropping two sets.
“After beating Fruita and Grand Junction’s JV, I can unofficially say that we have the best JV team on the Western Slope,” Jolley said.
Durango will have a bye this week as they prepare for the regional championships Oct. 7-8 where the team will try to qualify for the state championships.
