Lady Rams' Blaeser, Wood eliminated in 4A semifinals

ALBUQUERQUE — Portales High seniors Laura Blaeser and Taryn Wood advanced to the Class 4A tennis doubles semifinals on Thursday at Albuquerque Academy H.S, where they ran into a buzzsaw.

Blaeser and Wood, seeded fourth in the eight-team event, rallied for a a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 quarterfinals victory over seniors Lily Zhang and Julia Ross of host Academy. Turning around about an hour later, they dropped a 6-0, 6-1 decision to the top seeds, junior Hannah Garcia and freshman Mariela Rigales of St. Michael’s, in the semis.

“The heat was extreme,” PHS tennis coach Ann-Marie Bucksath said. “The first match was about two hours, then we came back and played hard.

“(Garcia and Rigales are) a great team. They’re No. 1 for a reason.”

Blaeser and Wood stormed back to beat Zhang and Ross, one of two Academy squads in the field.

“I was proud of how they played today,” Bucksath said. “They left it all on the court.”

They were a bit overwhelmed by the St. Mike’s tandem, though.

“They attacked right away,” Bucksath said of Garcia and Rigales. “They made us play defense right away.”

The championship match was slated for early Saturday afternoon.