For the first time in head coach Darren Tarshis’ tenure, the entire Durango High School girls tennis team is moving on to the individual state tournament after finishing second at regionals.
All 11 Demons needed to finish in the top two of their brackets on Thursday at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction to advance to state, and they did it. Sophomore Ella Claassen winning the No. 2 singles bracket was the highlight, but the rest of the Durango squad showed its success in the regular season and in the team state tournament wasn’t a fluke.
“I’m proud of how they competed,” Tarshis said. “It's always a question of whether they'll play their best under some added pressure, knowing that it could be their last match of the season. As I watched everybody play, I saw some of the best tennis I saw all season. That was a great feeling as a coach to see them perform that well.”
Grand Junction won the regional with 66 team points, followed by Durango in second with 46, Grand Junction Central in third with 25, and Montrose in fourth in 10th.
Junior Natalie Christensen was the No. 2 seed in the No. 1 singles bracket for Durango, and she beat Matlide Arni from Grand Junction Central in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-1. This set up a roller coaster final with Grand Junction’s Meridie Schmidt.
Christensen was up 5-1 in the first set, but Schmidt came back to send the match to a tiebreak and win, 7-6. In the second set, Christensen was down 2-5, but battled back to send the match to a tiebreak. Christensen couldn’t get the second set and lost 6-7.
Claassen was the star of the day. She started the day by beating Abbey Neary from Montrose, 6-2, 6-0, in the semifinals. Claassen then beat Grand Junction’s Grace DeHerrera in the final, 6-2, 6-1, to win the bracket. Claassen had seen both of those opponents before, but she had a much harder time beating them in the regular season, according to Tarshis.
“She's got all the shots, and she has a pretty sophisticated tennis IQ,” Tarshis said about Claassen. “The biggest turning point for her and her season was about a month ago, when she made the decision to play an aggressive style of tennis that suits her … She plays aggressively without making many errors at all. She really does a good job of moving her opponents around the court and just taking advantage of that.”
In other years, Claassen would be the No. 1 singles player on the team, but Tarshis credited the depth the Demons have in singles with Christensen, Claassen and junior Annabeth Hanson, to their success. They practice against each other, making each other better and providing competition throughout the week.
Hanson, the No. 2 seed in the No. 3 singles bracket, beat Montrose’s Annabelle Sanburg, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals. Hanson lost to Grand Junction’s Kendra Tooker in the final, 4-6, 2-6.
The Demons’ doubles pairing of senior Madelyn Agre and sophomore Piper Reese finished second in No. 1 doubles. As the lone senior, Agre will make it to state after her and Reese had the toughest draw in the first round of any of the Demons, according to Tarshis. They defeated Grand Junction Central’s Sailor Dennison Kersey and Avery Dorr, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals, before losing to Grand Junction’s Piper Hall and Madi Boyer, 2-6, 6-7.
“We've complimented Madelyn, and we've made her an example for the team of just what working hard over a long period of time does,” Tarshis said about Agre. “She has just stuck with it. As you can see, she’s the only senior left … it just shows when you stick with something and you work hard over time, that's the real key. It's not how intense you work, it's over what period of time. She's done it over four years.”
Junior Nicolina Lasher and sophomore Iris Gamble finished second in No. 2 doubles for Durango. They beat Montrose’s Katelyn and Mackenzie King, 6-3, 6-3, before falling to Grand Junction’s Aida Munkhtogoo and Molly Moquin, 1-6, 1-6, in the final.
Durango junior Zoe Boespflug and sophomore Willa Rider were so close to winning the No. 3 doubles bracket, but came up just short. They easily defeated Montrose’s Faith Breshears and Aspen Pottorff, 6-0, 6-0, before losing to Grand Junction’s Estella Berry and Eliza Bell in the final, 6-7, 5-7.
In No. 4 doubles, Durango junior Sophia Dainty-Guilfoyle and sophomore Georgia Barrow finished second. They defeated Montrose’s Madison Kilby and Tori Cato, 6-0, 6-2, before falling to Grand Junction’s Alai Heer and Zoey Kearl, 4-6, 4-6.
The Demons will travel to Pueblo City Park in Pueblo for the 4A individual state tournament. The brackets will be released on Monday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
