All eyes darted back and forth while watching Durango’s Maggie Hackett and Montezuma-Cortez’s Raquel Lucero.
The No. 2 singles match was locked in a tiebreak to decide the Demons’ final regular-season tennis match of the season.
Cortez and DHS were tied 3-3 at that point, but the freshman came through, winning the tiebreak 10-8 after splitting the first two sets 6-3, 6-7.
“I just had to keep myself level-headed and try not to get overwhelmed,” said Hackett, daughter of Denise Cleaves and Dan Hackett. “It helped (having all eyes on me), you have your teammates cheering you on. It motivates you.”
That gave the Demons a 4-3 senior-day victory over the Panthers on Tuesday at DHS.
“It was a squeaker,” DHS head coach Dave Weisfeldt said. “This wasn’t a gimme; that’s the kind of pressure I think we need at this point in the season.”
The Demons fared well in singles competition as a whole.
Maggie’s older sister, Kit, cruised past Tara Abrams 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
Durango’s Meredith Nass beat Kyla Kingery 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles to finish off a DHS singles sweep.
“I just felt really in it (Tuesday),” said Nass, daughter of Allan Nass and Sarah Sumner. “Having a home game means we have a good warm-up, which was really nice because we have a while to get in the groove, and I just stayed in the groove.”
Things got trickier at the doubles positions, though.
Cortez’s Skye Cole and Jaci Veach beat Durango’s Emma Hagen and Audrey Morris 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
“That comeback is important mentally,” Weisfeldt said. “That mental toughness and being able to say, ‘We’re not out of this match,’ and continuing to fight.”
Rachel Cooper and Eva Eckstein of DHS fell 6-1, 7-5 to Cortez’s Tori Calliham and Laurel Chappel at No. 2 doubles.
Durango’s No. 3 doubles team of Ellie Gervais and Hailee Pritchard, which won the Delta County Invitational last weekend, lost 2-6, 6-4, 10-6 to Paige Bailey and Sera King.
Ali Carey and Jenny Snowberger picked up Durango’s lone win in doubles play 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 4 position over Natasha Gordon and Ashley Moore.
The Demons are on a bit of a roll after finishing third in Delta last weekend, largely because their lineup is set after the return of key players to the court.
“Knowing what the expectation is, getting comfortable, knowing who your opponents may and may not be, that’s invaluable,” Weisfeldt said.
The Demons closed out their regular season Tuesday and will compete in regionals next weekend in Grand Junction to try and qualify for state.
“We want to keep the momentum going,” Weisfeldt said. “We asked the players to be pretty reflective about their play and have an idea about what to work on. This has at least given us a plan for our practices for the rest of the week.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
