Rams, Lady Rams set for 1A-3A state doubles

While Portales coach Brian Kirchner was a little disappointed with the way his boys team was treated in the Class 1A-3A state tennis seeding meeting on Sunday, he said the Rams and Lady Rams intend to get after it with three doubles teams entered in individual competition beginning today at the Jerry Cline Tennis Complex in Albuquerque.

On Friday, the PHS girls take a No. 8 seed into team competition, facing top-seeded Bosque in a 9 a.m. quarterfinal match at Albuquerque Academy.

Sophomore Austin Lucero and senior Mychael Sturm will represent Portales on the boys side, facing fifth-seeded Michael Salas and Marcos Gallegos of Las Vegas Robertson in a first-round match at 5 p.m. today.

"I feel they were underseeded a little bit," Kirchner said. "They were actually ranked below a NMMI (New Mexico Military Institute) team they had beaten twice."

Kirchner was also disappointed the Rams didn't get an at-large bid to Friday and Saturday's team competition, noting that a Raton team Portales had beaten this season got in — ostensibly as a second seed from its district. The top two teams in each of the three districts plus two at-large squads make up the field.

Meantime, the Lady Rams' tandem of juniors Emily Walker and Jessie Privett earned a No. 2 seed in the 12-team girls doubles bracket and thus have a bye into Thursday's quarterfinals, while sophomores Samantha Lopez and Belle Youngerwolf open against sixth-seeded Liz Stebbins and Dixie Cooper of Sandia Prep at 3:30 p.m. today.

"I think we can do well on both the boys and girls side if we play tough," Kirchner said.

The Lady Rams got into the team competition by finishing second in the district tournament, but Kirchner again thought they were undervalued in the seeding meeting.

"They definitely have a monumental task in front of them," Kirchner said, "but I think our girls are capable of competing against anybody on a given day.

"Hopefully, we can bring our 'A' game and surprise some people in Albuquerque who don't think we're very good."

The final three rounds of individuals are slated for Thursday, with the girls and boys doubles championship matches both scheduled for 4 p.m. In team competition, semifinals are on tap Saturday morning with the 1A-3A girls championship match to follow at 1 p.m.