Opening its season under sunny skies at the Jim Harkendorff Memorial Tennis Courts on March 14, the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls tennis team enjoyed mixed results.
Kicking off the day against Delta High School, M-CHS remained competitive, but was undone by two three-set losses and dropped the match, 5-2.
Registering wins for the Panthers were No. 1 singles player Raquel Lucero, who defeated Abby Bridgett, 6-2, 6-0, and No. 2 singles player Skye Cole, who came from behind to defeat Ellie Driscoll, 1-6, 6-3, 10-2.
“Racquel played well and Skye showed good fight,” said M-CHS head coach Valerie Bauer. “She never gave up and was able to get the win.”
Playing their second match of the day against Hotchkiss, M-CHS won two singles matches and one doubles match, but lost 4-3.
Winning singles matches for the Lady Panthers were Rachel Lucero, who defeated Macy O’Rourke, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 3 singles player, Laurel Chappel, who defeated Nichelle Feryanitz, 6-0, 6-0.
The Lady Panthers No. 1 doubles duo of Tori Calliham and Ashley Moore defeated Kelsey Stroud and McKenna Erickson, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 to pick up their first win of the season.
Closing out the day with matches against Miyamura, M-CHS won two singles matches, but lost 5-2.
Lucero defeated Mary Conete 6-0, 7-5 for her third win of the day and Chappel defeated Shinaya Smith, 6-0, 6-1.
Next up for the Lady Panthers will be a home matchup against Durango, which will take place at 5 p.m. on March 17.
“I would like to see us improve on our consistency because that is always important,” said Bauer. “Overall, I’m really happy with the girls because they are improving every day.”