Cats earn rare victory over Robertson

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Clovis High’s boys scored a rare win over traditional state tennis power Las Vegas Robertson on Monday, beating the Cardinals 7-2 in a dual match. Meantime, the Lady Wildcats absorbed a 7-2 setback at the hands of the Lady Cardinals.

In the boys dual, the Wildcats lost only at No. 6 singles and No. 2 doubles, although both were fairly competitive matches. The Cats also won super-tiebreakers with sophomore David Case at No. 2 singles and with freshmen Titus Wampler and Topher Oaks at No. 3 doubles.

For the Lady Cats, freshman Kaelynn Rodriguez scored the only victory in singles, beating Robertson freshman Desaray Lopez 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6, while the No. 2 doubles team of junior Ayia Alsaleh and sophomore Niliyaah Hall squeaked out a three-set win over Robertson’s Stela Garcia and Ashley Vigil, winning the super-tiebreaker 10-8. Meantime, junior Charlese Phillips also went the distance at No. 5 singles, losing the super-tiebreaker to Robertson junior Trinity Lopez 12-10.

Lady Cats coach Jeannette Albin praised the play of Rodriguez.

“I’m proud of my No. 6 player,” Albin said. “Each time she’s played, she’s improved.”

Carlsbad tournament — Both CHS and Portales High participated in Carlsbad’s Claire Higgins Invitational over the weekend.

Hobbs won the seven-school event on the boys side with 75 points to 52 for Carlsbad, while Clovis finished with 13 points and Portales with one. Meantime for the girls, Portales was fifth with 23 points and Clovis seventh with six.

Singles was played on Friday and doubles on Saturday. The only Clovis doubles team to return for Saturday’s action was Heath and Case, who finished fifth in boys No. 1 competition after winning the consolation finals over the Hobbs tandem of Mayes and Evans 6-0, 6-4.

In singles, Heath went 2-1 for third place at No. 2, Case was 2-1 and placed fifth at No. 2, Gonzales was 1-2 and took fourth place at No. 3 while Jones at No. 4, senior Drew Waltz at No. 5 and freshman Topher Oaks at No. 6 were all 1-2 and finished sixth in their respective flights.

In singles for the Lady Cats, Alsaleh went 2-1 for fifth at No. 1, senior Ryan Harmon was 1-2 and sixth at No. 3, Hall finished third at No. 4 with a 2-1 mark, junior Charlese Phillips was 1-2 and sixth at No. 5 and Rodriguez went 0-2 and did not place at No. 6. Clovis did not have a No. 2 entry.

Freshman Maggie Doung posted a 2-1 mark at No. 5 singles for the PHS girls, losing in the finals to Gabby Grado of Artesia 6-3, 6-4, while freshman Lorena Fernandez was 1-2 for fourth at No. 6, senior Taryn Wood at No. 2 and freshman Madi Sena at No. 3 both went 2-1 and placed fifth, and senior Laura Blaeser was 1-2 and sixth at No. 1. Meantime, sophomore Jenna Brown went 0-2 and did not place at No. 4.

In doubles for the Lady Rams, Brown and Duong were second in the No. 3 division, losing to the Artesia team of Harvey and Bush 8-1 in the finals, while Blaeser and Wood were 2-1 for third at No. 1 and twins Lexi and Madi Sena placed sixth at No. 2 after earning a bye through the consolation semis.

The only point for the boys came at No. 4 singles, where eighth-grader Paxton Culpepper earned a fourth-place finish.

Clovis returns to action with a District 4-5A dual at Carlsbad on Saturday. Meantime, Portales was on a two-week COVID-19 shutdown which started Monday. That shutdown was rescinded by the Public Education Department Tuesday. While Portales is cleared to compete again, Superintendent Johnnie Cain said some of the previously-scheduled contests may not happen because the other schools have scheduled replacement opponents.