Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Joshua Lucero Portales senior Austin Lucero returns a shot with a backhand hit during his singles match against Artesia at the Eastern New Mexico University tennis courts.
link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero
Portales senior Austin Lucero returns a shot with a backhand hit during his singles match against Artesia at the Eastern New Mexico University tennis courts.
STAFF WRITER
The Portales tennis teams got tune-ups before a big tournament this weekend by hosting Artesia on Thursday. While the girls team got a 7-2 win, the boys continued their struggles, losing 6-3.
The Lady Rams (5-2), playing at the Bill Wahlman Tennis Center and dominated as Hannah Evans, McKenzie Bucksath, Mireya Lopez and Zamorye Cox all won in straight sets.
Only one match the entire day went to a super-tiebreaker and the Lady Rams’ Danielle Ruiz lost a hard-fought match to Nicole Marquez 1-6, 7-5, 10-7.
Lady Rams coach Ann-Marie Bucksath thought her team was well-rested and played like it.
“We played really well today,” she said. “We were aggressive, we were focused today and you could tell. We also got some rest because of the wind on Wednesday, so the girls had a little extra juice coming into today.”
The Lady Rams swept doubles as Bucksath and Evans made quick work of the Lady Bulldogs’ top team 6-3, 6-3, while Ruiz teamed with Zamorye Cox for a 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles.
Coach Bucksath thinks her team is ready for today’s Paul Baker Invitational at Hobbs.
“Today’s win is going to give us a really good look on where we’re at heading into singles,” she said. “Evans and Bucksath are a really good team, and Cox is going to play singles and she’s doing really well.”
On the boys side, the Rams (2-5) split with the Bulldogs in singles, but were swept in doubles.
Austin Lucero won his match in straight sets, while Ethan Self and Zach Laurenz each went three sets to notch victories.
“We would’ve liked to get the (team) win, but I’m happy with the wins we did get,” Rams coach Logan Brown said. “Artesia is a solid team and their doubles teams work well together.”
Two of the doubles matches were decided in super-tiebreakers.
The Rams will also be heading to Hobbs today, but will only have two singles and two doubles entries.
“I’m very optimistic about this tournament,” Brown said. “My guys have shown improvement during the season and they’ve grown as players and it’s going to be good to see them continue to grow.”
SUMMARY
Boys
Artesia 6, Portales 3
Singles
Austin Lucero (P) def. Josiah Kraft 6-1, 6-1
Jake Trejo (A) def. Nathan Van Dam 6-2, 6-3
Zach Laurenz (P) def. Jamey Kennemur 3-6, 6-4, (10-5)
Ethan Self (P) def. Ricky Renteria 6-4, 2-6, (10-8)
Payton Prothro (A) def. Enrique Cabral 6-0, 6-1
Austin Garcia (A) def. Javier Gutierrez 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
Kraft/Trejo (A) def. Lucero/Laurenz 6-2, 4-6, (10-4)
Kennemur/Renteria (A) def. Van Dam/Self 7-5, 6-8, (12-10)
Prothro/Garcia (A) def. Cabral/Gerardo Calderon 6-2, 6-1
Girls
Portales 7, Artesia 2
Singles
Hannah Evans (P) def. Marissa Lopez 7-5, 6-4
Kabryn Conner (A) def. Samantha Lopez 6-0, 6-1
McKenzie Bucksath (P) def. Baylee McKinney 6-4, 6-4
Mireya Lopez (P) def. Melissa Richards 6-4, 6-0
Zamorye Cox (P) def. Hailey Ashe 6-0, 6-0
Nicole Marquez (A) def. Daniele Ruiz 1-6, 7-5, (10-7)
Doubles
Evans/Bucksath (P) def. Ma. Lopez/Conner 6-3, 6-3
S. Lopez/Mi. Lopez (P) def. McKinney/Ashe 6-1, 6-1
Cox/Ruiz (P) def. Richards/Marquez 7-5, 7-5
