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File photo McKenzie Bucksath is one of six Portales tennis players competing in singles or doubles today in the individual championships at the Jerry Cline Center in Albuquerque. Bucksath is on a doubles team with Hannah Evans.
Staff report
Portales High’s tennis teams will be in Albuquerque until at least Friday. They’re hopeful they can stay there a little longer, and pick up some hardware before then.
Both the boys and girls teams will face Hope Christian on Friday in the first round of the Class A-3A tennis state team championships in Albuquerque.
But first, there are four slots belonging to Portales in the singles and doubles field Wednesday and Thursday at the Jerry Cline Center.
link File photo
McKenzie Bucksath is one of six Portales tennis players competing in singles or doubles today in the individual championships at the Jerry Cline Center in Albuquerque. Bucksath is on a doubles team with Hannah Evans.
Jessie Privett is seeded seventh in the singles bracket, and faces Raton’s Ila Medina in a 6:30 p.m. first-round matchup.
Raton and Portales did play this year. However, the Wednesday opponents didn’t play each other because Privett is Portales’ No. 1 singles player and Medina was No. 2 singles for the Tigers.
“I think it’s going to be an even matchup,” Portales coach Ann-Marie Bucksath said. “Jessie’s just going to have to play her game and not let up.”
In the girls doubles bracket, the dream is an all-Portales final. Samantha Lopez and Bella Youngerwolf form one of the doubles teams, while Hannah Evans and McKenzie Bucksath form the other.
“We expect great things,” coach Bucksath said of both doubles teams. “They’ve been working hard, they’ve been practicing hard. Their serves have been strong.
In boys action, Austin Lucero is the lone competitor. Lucero, seeded sixth, faces Marcus Hofer-Curl of Taos in a 7:30 p.m. first-round singles matchup. The winner faces No. 3 seed Dave Romero of Robertson.
“He has a good chance at first round,” Portales coach Logan Brown said. “After that is when it’s going to start getting pretty tough.”
When Friday rolls around, team competition at Albuquerque Academy starts for the Portales girls at 10:30 a.m. The boys team plays at 1:30 p.m.
Both teams play Hope Christian. The Portales girls are the fifth seed, while the boys are the seventh seed.
