Weeks of shoveling snow off their courts and trying to figure out their lineup didn’t give the Demons much time to prepare for one of the biggest girls tennis tournaments of the year.
After three grueling days of tennis, Durango High School was pleased with its performance at the Western Slope Open in Grand Junction.
“We had some terrific wins,” DHS head coach Dave Weisfeldt said. “We went from playing each other on limited court-time and went in and faced powerhouse teams. We haven’t had a chance to work much technique.”
At No. 1 singles, Sarah Harrelson saw her tournament end with a 10-1 proset loss to Grand Junction.
“She was real tight from the day before with some soreness. She did the best she could this weekend, and we look forward to getting her back at 100 percent,” Weisfeldt said.
Maggie Hackett had a strong tournament at No. 2 singles. After falling to the consolation bracket Friday, she bounced back with a 10-5 win against Montrose and a 10-7 win against Denver East to claim the B Bracket title.
“That match with Montrose was a heavy-hitting match,” Weisfeldt said. “Maggie was able to match her shot for shot, pace for pace. The Denver East girl made too many errors, and Maggie took advantage of those. She had a phenomenal tournament.”
Kit Hackett wasn’t quite as lucky at No. 3 singles. She lost 10-7 to Montrose but made it close after being down big early.
The No. 1 doubles team of Skylar Borr and Hannah Liberman lost 8-2 to Palmer Ridge to end their tournament.
“They showed much better movement and communication. They’re getting used to each other on the doubles court,” Weisfeldt said.
The No. 2 doubles combo of Audrey Morris and Jenni Snowberger won their lower consolation bracket with a 9-7 win against Grand Junction and an 8-7 (7-3) win against Fruita Monument.
“Two wins against two league teams. That was big,” Weisfeldt said.
The No. 3 doubles squad of Jenna Engelken and Chloe West also won a lower consolation bracket with 8-4 wins against Grand Junction Central and Fruita Monument, two more league opponents.
“Those are new partners playing with one another. Chloe is very new to the varsity lineup and really held her own,” Weisfeldt said.
Ruby DeCora and Emily West rounded out the DHS team with a 10-2 loss at No. 4 doubles against powerhouse Steamboat Springs.
DHS has a full slate of action coming up this week with three matches, beginning 4 p.m. Tuesday at Montezuma-Cortez.
“We have a few tweaks to maybe make to the lineup, but with three matches this week there’s not a lot of time to do it,” Weisfeldt said.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
