Portales drops two in doubles

Due to what coach Brian Kirchner estimated to be tight play, Portales' doubles teams went 0-for-2 Wednesday in the first round of doubles competition at the Jerry Cline Complex in Albuquerque.

Mychael Sturm and Austin Lucero fell to Robertson's Michael Salas and Marcos Gallegos 6-1, 6-4, while Maribel Youngerwolf and Samantha Lopez were defeated 6-1, 6-1 by the sixth-seeded team of Sandia Prep's Lucy Stebbins and Dixie Cooper.

Kirchner said in the case of Youngerwolf and Lopez, it was unlikely an upset would have happened, but some games ended up going against Portales based on missing shots the girls normally hit.

"Strategically, they did everything right," Kirchner said. "They got to the net plenty of times."

Portales still has one doubles team playing Thursday. Emily Walker and Ryann Privett, seeded second, received a first-round bye. They will face Jessie Kotch and Katie Ish of St. Mike's in the quarterfinals.

All 1A-3A doubles action Thursday begins with 8 a.m. quarterfinals, followed by 12:30 p.m. semifinals and 4 p.m. championships and third-place matches.

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.