After playing several weeks on the road the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls tennis team returns just in time to host two tough matches. The Demons from Durango come to town for a match at 3:30 p.m. today, April 20, and then tough Montrose comes in for a match beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 22. Both Southwest League matches will be played at the Centennial Park Tennis Courts.

"I don’t know what to expect from our kids when we play Durango," MCHS head girls coach Ricky Carver said. "Durango has a very good team. We don’t play Durango well, even when we have a good team. I don’t know if we just get psyched or what. Montrose did not lose anybody from last year’s team. They will be very tough."

The Panthers are coming off playing a nonconference match at Farmington, N.M., on April 15 against Piedra Vista at the Lions Park Tennis Courts.

There were several great matches that day. The Panthers’ no. 3 doubles team of Collette Hall and Tracy Berhost won a thrilling 3-6, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 7-6 (11-9) win over Lindley Barney and Priscilla Souza.

Hall and Berhost hit solid ground strokes and played consistently. They had some good volleys.

"They showed a lot of athleticism and they concentrated and never let up," Carver commented. "Anytime you win tiebreakers, there is a lot of concentration involved. I was very happy with their serving and with their overall play."

No. 2 duo of Amanda Frazier and Emilie Harclerode lost a heartbreaker, falling 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-7 (5-7) to Sacaunda Sisneros and Jennifer Kistler.

In the first set they got down 1-3 and then fought back and eventually won the tiebreaker. In the second set they fell behind 0-3 but lost. In the third set they were up 5-2 and let them come back. It went to a tiebreaker and they lost.

"They are both only freshmen. I’m certainly not upset. They lost a close one but they showed a lot of growth and maturity," Carver added.

No. 4 doubles team of Sarah Wallace and Jennifer Stone lost to PV’s Nicole Sisneros and Yolanda Brimhall 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6.

"They played well. Again, this team showed a lot of heart by winning the tiebreaker. In the third set they got in a hurry and missed some shots," he said.

No. 1 doubles team of Chesleigh Keene and Cassandra Wood lost 1-6, 3-6 to Natalie Landsdale and Rachel Burger.

"These were better scores than the last time they played them. They improved their serving. They reacted better and used better judgment. I was pleased with their first serves," Carver noted.

Landsdale defeated Keene, subbing for Chelsea Amos who did not play because she was attending a band competition, 1-6, 1-6 in the no. 1 singles competition.

"This was good for Chesleigh. She has been working hard on her serves. She got in a lot of deuce games but could not pull them out," he reported.

Chere Todd fell 5-7, 2-6 to Burger. Todd had missed several days of practice and it came back to haunt her. Carver said that she only attended one practice going into the match and it hurt.

Melinda Lee fell 0-6, 2-6 to Barney in the no. 3 singles match.

"Melinda and Barney are both chippers. I think Melinda could have played better but we have been trying to change her game to become more aggressive. She was trying to be more aggressive and made a lot of unforced errors. I certainly can’t fault her because she was trying to do what we asked of her."

Carver was hoping the team would play a little better than they did, especially after having played Piedra Vista a close match earlier in the season.