Durango beat Canon City in first round at home on Wednesday
The Durango High School girls tennis team poses for a photo after defeating Canon City in the 4A team state playoffs on Wednesday at DHS. (Courtesy Darren Tarshis)
After a tough loss to Fruita Monument on Tuesday, the Durango High School girls tennis team rebounded in the best way possible to beat Canon City 24 hours later to make program history.
The Demons were seeded No. 7 in the 4A girls team state tournament bracket, and they faced No. 10 Canon City on Wednesday in the first round at DHS. Durango crushed the Tigers, 6-1, to advance to the second round for the first time in program history, with the team state playoff format only existing over the last four years.
“I’m really proud of how committed this group of 11 varsity players has been,” Durango coach Darren Tarshis said. “It’s a coach’s ideal season when they can count on their full team to be at all of the tournaments and be fully bought in to the program. So I just expressed how grateful I was to them for that.”
Durango and Canon City faced windy conditions on Wednesday, something Tarshis made sure to let his team know about before. It was a little different than the Fruita match the day before, but a few of the Demons have seen their Canon City opponents at previous tournaments.
“Fruita was a great warm-up match,” Tarshis said. “We don’t get too many home matches, so it actually takes some time for them to get used to playing at home. Everything today was just like Fruita. Same dismissal, same warm-up time, same start time. That match yesterday against tough competition was a big help for us today.”
In No. 1 singles, junior Natalie Christensen was the only winner against Fruita on Tuesday, and she continued her winning ways with a 6-1, 6-1, win over Canon City’s Gwen Hunter on Wednesday.
Sophomore Ella Claassen took victory for Durango against Canon City’s Abby Kinsey in No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2. Tarshis was proud of how Claassen bounced back from a tough Fruita match. She was playing her aggressive style and was trusting her shots against Canon City, according to Tarshis.
Durango junior Annabeth Hanson took victory against Canon City’s Valentina Valent in No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-3.
In doubles play against the Tigers, Durango sophomore Piper Reese and senior Madelyn Agre defeated Canon City’s Elyvia Hooper and Eden Mulso, 6-2, 6-2, in No. 1 doubles. In No. 3 doubles, Durango junior Zoe Boespflug and sophomore Willa Rider defeated Canon City’s Natalie Henry and Natalia Sartori, 6-0, 6-0. The Demons’ No. 4 doubles pairing of sophomore Georgia Barrow and junior Sophia Dainty-Guilfoyle won their match, 6-2, 6-0.
Durango moves on to face No. 2 seed Kent Denver in the second round on Friday at Kent Denver. The Sun Devils are 8-2 overall after beating No. 15 Discovery Canyon on Wednesday.
“When you put yourself in situations where you play a team as strong as Kent has been in past seasons, you know you’re doing something right,” Tarshis said. “So you have to trust what you’ve been doing, what you already know and not doubt yourself.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
