The Montezuma-Cortez High School Lady Panthers tennis team took two out of three matches against fellow 4A schools in Delta last Friday and Saturday.
M-CHS (3-1) beat Cedaredge 5-2 and lost 4-3 to host Delta on Friday. The Lady Panthers edged Paonia 4-3 on Saturday.
Junior No. 1 singles player Abbi Pickens went 0-3 in Delta, but assistant coach Valorie Bauer is pleased with the way Pickens is playing.
Abbi Pickens is moving her opponents all over the court and serving well, Bauer said about Pickens. She has improved her game since last year as No. 2 doubles. She is still moving forward.
Sadee Threlkeld and Brie Odell won at No. 2 and No. 3 singles to win the singles point for the Lady Panthers against Cedaredge. Threlkeld went 3-0 at No. 2 singles and is 4-0 on the year.
The No. 1 doubles senior duo of Andi Pickens and Jessica Gonzalez also posted a 3-0 record and are now 4-0 this season.
Against Delta, the Lady Panthers came up short, but Roni Shaner and Charley Stewart kept M-CHS in it at No. 3 doubles with an emphatic come back win over Jessa Kinderknecht and Diana Ortega Delta, 5-7, 6-0, 11-9. In the 10-point tiebreaker set, Shaner and Stewart battled back from a 7-1 deficit to win the set 11-9.
Roni Shaner and Charley Stewart played 10-point tiebreaker in the third set and was down 1-7, and came back and won 11-9. It was a great job mentally and physically, Bauer said. All the girls are playing well thanks to their hard work.
Against Paonia, M-CHS won three of the four doubles matches to put it on top for the win.
The Lady Panthers are at it again today at rival Durango at 4 p.m.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.