Panther boys tennis team gets season under way

Panther boys tennis team gets season under way

August 23, 2001

STAFF REPORT

The Montezuma-Cortez High School boys tennis team got their 2001 season off to a good start with an easy win over Hotchkiss on Aug. 16. Although the fell to Fruita-Monument the next day, they came back and battled hard but lost to Montrose. They played well at times but lost to Durango on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at DHS.

Durango won 7-0.

Top singles player Billy Innis fought hard but it wasn’t enough to beat Durango’s Kurt Volger. Volger won the first easily 0-6 but Innis came back strong in the second, leading 4-1 but Volger had a little more in him and won 7-5.

At No. 2 singles, Patrick Minot knocked off Jeff Anderson 6-0, 6-2.

Durango’s Luke Wheeler stopped Panther no. 3 singles player Troy Tanner, defeating him 0-6, 2-6.

The Panthers were forced to forfeit the No. 4 doubles point because of ineligible players.

In no. 1 MCHS’ David Wilcken and Devin Perkins were defeated 3-6, 3-6 by Craig McCormack and Boo Burnier. Cortez’s No. 2 team of Sean Carey and Mark Sturdevant lost 3-6, 0-6. Noah Rauscher and Seth Hollar, no. 3 doubles, lost to Jeff Kuss and Jesse Monn by identical scores of 2-6, 2-6.

The Panthers garnered their first win of the season by beating HHS 5-2 in Hotchkiss. The first, second, and third singles players — Innis, Anderson, and Keetso — all won handily in two sets. Innis opened by defeating Ricky Sparks 6-3, 6-3. Anderson stopped Joey Stech 7-6 (tiebreaker), 6-2. Keetso topped Zach Dempsey 6-3, 6-3.

The doubles teams of Perkins-Rauscher( no. 2) and Carey-Sturdevant( no. 3) also won without breaking too much sweat, according to new head coach Jim Harkendorff. Perkins-Rauscher beat Jon Hall and Michael Sparks 6-2, 6-0. Carey-Sturdevant got off to a slow start, losing 3-6, but they came back strong to win 6-1, 6-2.

The no. 1 doubles team of Tanner-Wilcken played well but allowed Hotchkiss to slip by in the third set, 7-5, after winning the first 7-5 and losing the second 6-2 to Cory Myrtlest and Eloy Celis. The MCHS no. 4 doubles team of Hollar-Conrads, with only three days of team practice and having never played together, lost their match in straight sets, 0-6, 0-6 to Nathan Reyes and Leander Valdez.

MCHS took on the Wildcats the next day, Aug. 17. Fruita worked over the Panthers in Fruita by the team score of 0-7. Anderson was the only one who won more than one game, losing 1-6, 1-6 to Bryce Gardner, in all the matches.

"Six matches were actually played and one match was forfeited because of inaelligibility. Some of Fruita's parents commented that this was their best team in quite a while. The only possible consolation was a brisk shot by Hollar that cleared the fence and hit a husky Fruita football player right in side of the head," he said jokingly.

Innis fell 0-6, 0-6 to Richard Johnson. The no. 3 singles match was forfeited. In doubles, Wilcken-Tanner fell 1-6, 0-6 to Mike Patz-Davraam Stietler; Perkins-Rauscher lost 0-6, 1-6 to Robbie Ely-Nick Rossi; Carey-Sturdevant fell 0-6, 1-6 to Chase Hummel-Derrick Vigil 0-6, 1-6, and Hollar-Conrads lost 1-6, 0-6 to Ken Housten-Sam Grabin.

The Panthers ventured on to Montrose on Aug. 18. Cortez and Montrose battled neck-and-neck down to the wire, with Montrose winning by a team score of 5-2.

"One match was forfeited by Cortez because of a nagging inelligibility, so the Panthers would have had to win four of the remaining six to win the meet," Harkendorff noted.

Anderson and the doubles team of Hollar-Conrads each won their matches in 3 sets. Anderson prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 while Hollar-Conrads won 4-6, 6-4, 1-6.

The doubles team of Carey-Sturdevant allowed their opponents to squeak by in the third set, after playing superb and leading 5-2 earlier in that set against Nick Webb and Neal Erickson. The scores were 6-4, 1-6, 5-7.

"I would have to give Montrose credit for the good comeback, but it was a racquet-biter, because the Panthers would have split the six matches played that day with Montrose," Harkendorff commented.

The Innis and the doubles teams of Tanner-Wilcken and Perkins-Rauscher each lost their matches in two sets, although they each played more competitively in the second sets, he reported. Innis lost to Nate Balk 2-6, 4-6. Tanner-Wilcken fell to Taylor Day-Joe Crenshaw 2-6, 4-6 while Perkins-Rauscher lost to Zach Brown and Aaron Delman 0-6, 2-6.

"In summary of the weekend, Anderson was the only two-match winner with solid play at the net and the backcourt. A junior this year, he will only get better. All the players made quite a few excellent shots, with steady improvement especially coming from the doubles teams of Carey-Sturdevant and Hollar-Conrads," Harkendorff said.

The Panthers finally get a taste of home cooking by hosting Grand Junction High at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, and host Central of Grand Junction at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 25.