Ali Carey and Jenni Snowberger are the only Durango High School girls tennis players going to the state tournament.
Carey and Snowberger won the No. 4 doubles championship at the Class 4A Region 8 tournament Friday at the Canyon View Park tennis courts in Grand Junction. They defeated Montrose 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4 to win in straight sets.
“It is phenomenal to see them make it to state,” DHS head coach Dave Weisfeldt said. “We will bring in some of the other varsity players this week to help them get ready. They recognized some tactics they can utilize next week.”
As a team, DHS placed fourth out of 11 teams in the region. Steamboat Springs took first place.
“We knew we were much better than our (1-6) dual record coming into regionals,” Wesifeldt said. “Our lineup was always changing, and we played tough 5A teams. We knew we could be a dark horse in this tournament, and it turns out we were.”
No. 1 singles player Kit Hackett had her season come to a close with a 7-5, 6-1 loss to Vail.
Maggie Hackett lost to Montrose 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.
Meredith Nass fell 6-2, 6-4 to Hotckiss at No. 3 singles to end her season.
The No. 3 doubles team of Sydney Carey and Hailee Pritchard beat Glenwood Springs 6-0, 6-3 to reach the consolation finals. They went on to face Montrose, who beat the Demons’ duo 7-6 (12-10), 4-6, 7-6 (10-8).
“It was an incredibly close match, and our girls had three match points in that final tiebreaker but couldn’t close the deal,” Wesifeldt said.
The state tournament will begin Thursday in Pueblo.
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