Consistency is what the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls tennis team will be looking for when they take on Central of Grand Junction at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, and then battled Montrose and Aspen at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, on a road trip to Grand Junction.

"Central is a team which lost a lot of players and they have a new coach (former Fruita-Monument and former MCHS coach Joel Marquardt)," MCHS head coach Ricky Carver said. "I think we can win some matches against Central. I’m also looking forward to play Aspen in doubles. I think we can win some doubles matches. Montrose, with everybody back, is the favorite to win the league (Southwestern). I will just be happy if we can improve our scores against them.

"I’m looking forward to this weekend. I think we can win some matches against these teams."

The Panthers are coming off matches against Montrose and Durango. They hosted Montrose this past Saturday, April 22, and Durango on April 20 at Centennial Park Tennis Courts. Cortez lost all of its matches to both of those teams.

"We played much better against Durango this time than we did the last time. We were creamed the last time. But this time we won some games from them," he noted.

Chelsea Amos was forced to retire in her match against Durango’s Blair Murphy in no. 1 singles. Trailing 1-4 in the first set, she twisted her knee and pulled a muscle. She forfeited the match.

Chere Todd, who has missed several practice sessions with the team for various reasons, lost 1-6, 0-6 to Demon Michelle Stoltzman.

Melinda Lee struggled against veteran Danica Erickson. She lost 0-6, 0-6.

"She is still hitting a lot of balls out-of-bounds. She is making too many unforced errors and is not playing consistently," Carver noted.

Chesleigh Keene and Cassandra Wood fell 2-6, 2-6 to Durango’s Tabitha Winkler and Katie Minot.

Amanda Frazier and Emilie Harclerode lost 2-6, 2-6 to Cassie Benadum and Veronica Gerald-King.

"They are improving. Emilie is serving much better. Amanda’s ground strokes are better and she is playing better at the net. Again, I saw some improvement," Carver commented.

Collette Hall and Tracy Berhost lost 1-6, 2-6 to Natalie Meyer and Tiara Murphy.

No. 4 doubles team of Jennifer Stone and Sarah Wallace lost 0-6, 0-6 to DHS’ Maggie Wilson and Rachel McCoola.

"This is a new group we have put together. They made too many double faults. They are very inexperienced," he said.

Montrose has an excellent team. Carver said the Indians may even have the talent needed to win the Class 4A State title.

Amos was still hurting. The decision was made to forfeit the match. Stacy Kneese is the defending individual champion.

Todd had a tough time with Lindsay McMasters, losing 0-6, 1-6.

"Just as soon as we can get her back on track she will do better. She is struggling right now," Carver remarked.

Lee lost 0-6, 1-6 to Holly Kent. Carver reported Kent is very consistent while Lee is still inconsistent.

Keene-Wood lost 0-6, 0-6 to J. Eide-G. Davenport.

"They need to communicate better on the court. They need to talk more. They missed some easy volleys and they tried to rush through their game," he noted.

Frazier-Harclerode fell 1-6, 1-6 to D. Becker and H. Herr. Hall-Berhost were defeated 0-6, 1-6 to K. Herr and C. Sitton.

"They made lots of unforced errors. They missed a lot of volleys," Carver reported.

Stone-Wallace lost 2-6, 1-6 to K. Bonhere and E. Boston.