The Durango High School boys tennis team got some good competition in its only home matches this season on Friday and Saturday at DHS.
The Demons squared off with Grand Junction High School on both days. The matches had a lot of competitive points and deuce games, but the Tigers ended up sweeping both contests by 7-0 margins.
“The team fought hard versus a tough opponent today,” said DHS head coach Chad Patacky. “It was great experience going against such a fundamentally strong team. The boys implemented great strategy and tactics (and) I was very pleased with the way they played today.”
Nate Claassen once again played their opponent’s toughest player at No. 1 singles, Nikolas Miller.
“It’s fun because I like singles, but they are some challenging players out there,” Claassen said.
Claassen fell 6-1 and 6-0 to Miller on Friday, but made some adjustments on Saturday.
He said he tried to hit the ball harder so it would bounce higher and make it harder to return.
Miller took the first set on Saturday, 6-0, but Claassen jumped out to a lead in the second set. He served an ace to take the first game. Later, he hammered a return and also took the following point to go up 2-1. Miller won the next four games, but Claassen kept battling to win another point with a long rally, a hammered return and a nice reach.
Miller, however, was able to take the set 6-3 to win the match.
At No. 4 doubles, Gabe Clark and Luke Elias won their first set 7-5 on Friday, but it ended up being the only set DHS won over the weekend. GJ ended up taking the match 5-7, 6-0 and 6-2 and followed it up with a 6-0, 6-1 win on Saturday.
Finn Skowlund competed at No. 2 singles but fell 6-0, 6-2 on Friday and 6-0, 6-0 Saturday.
At No. 3 singles, Will Benac won four games over the weekend, but ended up losing his matches in straight sets.
Aeneas McBrayer and Brady Hoerl finished strong to win a couple games at No. 1 doubles, but eventually fell 6-0, 6-2 on Saturday after getting blanked Friday.
Andre Craig and Truman Hughes won two games in three of their sets at No. 2 doubles.
Michael Hofmann and Jacob Cuthbertson had Durango’s closest match on Saturday, but came up short 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles. They fell 6-1, 6-0 Friday.
“I think we’re all improving,” Claassen said. “We’ve had some good wins and we’re all playing well … We’re all putting in a good effort and trying hard.”
