Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales High junior Kelly Fraze hits a return during Tuesday's doubles match with sophomore Vanessa Lucero against Artesia's Andrea Alvarez and Za'Leigh Pittam. Fraze and Lucero lost the match 7-5, 6-4, but the Lady Rams prevailed in the dual 5-4.
PORTALES — The Portales Lady Rams had to sweat one out on Tuesday, but in the end it was worth it.
Freshman Kinsey Bilberry rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over Artesia senior Nicole Marquez at No. 2 singles in the final match of the day, giving PHS a 5-4 win over the Lady Bulldogs in the dual at the Eastern New Mexico University courts.
Artesia won the boys matchup 7-2. Portales squads are preparing for a weekend District 4/1-4A matchup at Albuquerque Academy in which they will face several of their district rivals.
"We definitely have stuff to work on, but everyone played well today," Lady Rams coach Ann-Marie Bucksath said.
Portales won four of the six singles matches after the Lady Bulldogs went 2-1 in doubles. Juniors Sarah Blaeser and Kelly Fraze also won in singles competition for Portales, while Blaeser and freshman Timberlyn Neece teamed up for a 6-4, 6-3 win over Melissa Richards and Marquez in doubles.
The PHS boys had a tougher time. The only wins for the Rams came in singles, where junior Javier Gutierrez got past senior Tailor Baggerly 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 and junior Gerardo Calderon knocked off junior Caleb Carnathan 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.
The Rams, though, did lose a pair of three-setters in singles.
"I think this prepared us pretty well for our district quad this weekend," Rams coach Logan Brown said. "We'll be focusing on doubles and mental toughness.
After this weekend, the Rams and Lady Rams have another district get-together scheduled for April 7-8 at New Mexico Military in Roswell.
