Dimond, Kenward take district doubles championship
Taos vs. Taos
Dimond, Kenward take district doubles championship
By Gabe Toth
The Taos News
After two days of play, Taos junior Erica Dimond and senior Lauren Kenward took the district doubles title Saturday (May 3) at Taos’ Quail Ridge Inn.
The girls fell initially to the Kim sisters of Los Alamos while competing in the team singles and doubles competition, but then defeated the Kims 6-2, 6-4 in the final individual match of the weekend.
After taking the first set and gaining a 3-2 lead in the second, Kenward double-faulted five times to bring the Kims even, 3-3 instead of 4-2, but the girls kept their cool and recovered.
“At some point, I lost confidence,” Kenward said, “and just had to pick it back up.”
Coach Kurt Edelbrock said the big win showed “how they’ve developed over the year and how hard they worked on their particular style of doubles.
“They’ve brought the level of their game up. Their level of concentration over this weekend was exceptional, more than even their tennis,” he said. “They have great potential.”
With teams representing Taos, Los Alamos, Capital and Espa-ola Valley, players competed in two separate tournaments through the weekend; one to determine district status as a team, and the other to give individual players the chance to qualify for state.
Jessica Christian and Alex Cancro battled to the semifinals of the individual doubles bracket, but fell to the Kims, then went down against another LA team fighting for third place.
“They played their game very well,” Edelbrock said. “The other team beat them, but they (Christian and Cancro) didn’t give away their points.”
After falling to Los Alamos opponents in the semifinals, teammates Garrett Cottam and Robert Forbes found themselves facing off in a fight for third, which Cottam took 6-1, 6-1.
In the girls singles individual bracket, Tessa Zangara defeated her Espa-ola opponent, Robyn Mart’nez, before going down against Elyse Jalbert of Los Alamos.
Stephanie Stebbins beat NicoletteMieraofCapitalbefore falling against Chelsy Smith of LA, and Kamal Jahrmarkt had a first-round by before losing to Capital’s Erika Ortega.
For the boys individual doubles tournament, Eric Christian and Taylor Braselle received a bye then took down a Capital opponent. They lost to the eventual champions from Los Alamos, and again in the match for third place to another LA team.
Josh Hensley and Bauer took a bye in the first round, then fell to Los Alamos, and John Laycock/Forbes won their match against Espa-ola before losing to LA.
Both boys and girls took second in the district tournament behind the powerhouse Los Alamos team, and begin state play this weekend.
The girls, seeded fifth, face fourth-seed St. Pius Friday morning (May 9). Singles start at 8 a.m., doubles at 9:30 a.m. If they win, the girls face Los Alamos — who receives a bye as the number-one seed —the following morning.
Taos’ boys are seeded sixth and will face Farmington, seeded third, Friday at 2 p.m. for singles and 3:30 p.m. for doubles. If they win there, they go on to face Los Alamos (number two seed) or the winner of an earlier Silver City/Piedra Vista match.
Photos by Gabe Toth
Taos’ Garrett Cottam, above, and Robbie Forbes found themselves across the court from each other during the individual singles tournament last weekend at the Quail Ridge Inn. After being eliminated from the semifinal round by Los Alamos competitors, the Taos pair faced off for third place, which Cottam clinched 6-1, 6-1.
