The Durango High School girls’ tennis team got points from all of its players to finish third out of 12 teams at Pueblo South’s tournament on Friday and Saturday.
DHS players went 2-2 at two positions while its other five positions all went 3-1 at the tournament.
A trio of finalists led the Demons, but all three ended up with silver medals.
“We had three lines make the finals. Unfortunately, all three were defeated,” said DHS head coach Darren Tarshis. “Some close matches against strong opponents, including a 10-point match tiebreaker.”
Adwyn Chowen finished with a silver at No. 2 singles to help lead the Demons. Chowen won 6-3, 6-0 against Pueblo County, 6-1, 6-1 against Lewis Palmer and 6-1, 6-4 against Pueblo East in the semifinals. Chowen then took on Arapaho in the finals. Chowen lost the first set, 6-1, but rallied back to take the second set 6-2 and force a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was close, but Arapaho’s player escaped with an 11-9 win to take the match.
At No. 2 doubles, Lola Bradshaw and Sydney Pritchard also went to a tiebreaker in the championship. Facing Discovery Canyon, the duo lost a tight first set, 7-5, but came back and won the second set 6-2. Discovery, however, took the tiebreaker 10-5. Bradshaw and Pritchard beat teams from Pueblo County, Lewis Palmer and Air Academy en route to silver.
Avery Edgar and Rachel Ager also reached the finals at No. 3 doubles for DHS. They beat Pueblo Centennial, Pueblo West and Air Academy players in straight sets to reach the championships, but fell to Arapaho 6-0, 6-2 in the finale.
At No. 1 singles, Ellie Davenport lost her first match to Discovery Canyon, but responded by winning her next three matches. Davenport beat the top players from Pueblo East, Pueblo Centennial and Fruita Monument to finish fifth for the Demons.
At No. 3 singles, Jordan Kitchens won her first two matches to make the semifinals, but lost her next two matches to finish fourth.
At No. 1 doubles, Juliet DiGiacomo and Ella Frihauf finished seventh with a 2-2 effort. All four of their matches needed a third set before they were decided, but they were able to finish with a 7-5, 2-6 (10-2) win against Pueblo Centennial in their final bout.
Litzy Lopez and Addie Cady also went 3-1 to place third at No. 4 doubles. Lopez and Cady won their first two matches in straights sets, but fell to Arapaho in the semifinals. The duo, however, came back and beat Fruita 6-4, 7-5 to take bronze.
In the team race, Discovery Canyon finished first followed by Arapaho in second and the Durango Demons in third out of 12 teams.
DHS will next play at Montrose on Friday.
