Good run in tennis

ALBUQUERQUE — The results may show first- and second-round exits, but that doesn’t mean it was a short state tennis championship for either Portales or Clovis.

After a series of rain delays pushed matches back Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the tennis season concluded for local athletes when the Portales girls team split its Class 1A-4A matches.

Portales, seeded eighth, edged No. 9 St. Pius X 5-4 Saturday morning, then fell to top-seeded Robertson 5-2. The second-round match was halted after the Cardinals won the first of three doubles matches.

The Cardinals, seeded first, probably didn’t need much of an advantage. But the weather delays eliminated the Friday portion of bracket play, and Portales had to face a rested Robertson team immediately after facing the Sartans.

“It was a good week,” Portales coach Ann-Marie Bucksath said Saturday following the second-round exit. “I’m proud of the girls. It was a good season. We went into Robertson and we played hard. To win anything against Robertson is hard and we got two of the singles.”

In the singles and doubles brackets held Wednesday and Thursday, no Portales or Clovis player won their opening-round matches.

Clovis

In a match that went two days due to rain delays, David Heath fell to Sandia’s Lorenzo Gomez 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Seth Romero fell 6-0, 6-0 to Volcano Vista’s Alex Kratochvil and the doubles pair of Brandon Heath and Sumito Richeson lost 6-4, 6-4 to Albuquerque High’s Thomas Baca and John Ringer.

“David tried to gamble on some shots, and he paid the price,” Clovis coach Brad Heath said, while noting Romero probably had the hardest match and the Wildcat doubles team gave itself a chance to win.

Coach Heath said he enjoyed the season with District 4-5A sharing a strong bond with its four teams, and that the Wildcats now must transition beyond being a team that gets excited to make state into one that aims to compete there.

“I’m pleased,” Coach Heath said. “Last year the team made it, and this year four individuals made it. We’re making strides. We’re losing two seniors, but I think we’ll have a couple of good young ones coming up to take those spots. We have to recruit more people and get the programs built up.”

Portales

In singles, Portales’ Taryn Wood fell to eventual fourth-place finisher Catie Lacie of Albuquerque Academy 7-5, 6-3. Doubles play saw Kinsey Bilberry and Danielle Ruiz falling to Belen’s Madison Good and Sidney Shawver 6-2, 6-3. Vanessa Lucero and Micaela Garza fell 6-1, 6-0 to Makenna Takeshida and Annika Conn of Mesilla Valley.

The lone Portales boys doubles match saw Lazius Brown and Sam Nix of Silver defeat Pancho Lopez and Zeke Aguirre 6-0, 6-0.

“Taryn had a tough match,” Bucksath said. “She played well, but Academy is one of the top programs. Taryn battled, and was even up 5-4 at one point. She got rained out, and the second day was tough. We just didn’t play like we should have. We had some new people, and may have gotten nervous being at the state tournament.”