The Montezuma-Cortez Lady Panthers tennis team is back in Grand Junction this weekend.
The Lady Panthers (2-7, 1-7 4A/5A Southwestern League) wrapped up their regular season last week and will compete in the Class 4A Region 8 tournament at Canyonview Courts in Grand Junction on Friday and Saturday.
M-CHS comes into the regional on a four-match losing streak after being swept 7-0 by Durango, Grand Junction Central and Grand Junction, and falling to Montrose 6-1.
But in three of the four losses, the Panthers were down 2-0 to start because they were short players and forced to forfeit.
“We’ve just had inconsistency with people out and people missing matches for various reasons,” said head coach Catherine Anliker. “So that’s frustrating.”
“They were a struggle because we went into them without having the number two singles or number four doubles,” Anliker said of recent losses. “We were already down by two in the overall score, and it’s kind of disheartening to go into a match like that. But they were really good teams that we played, so it was good practice and experience.”
Anliker also focused on the positives and mentioned the growth she’s seen as the season has played out, specifically noting the improvements made by singles players Raquel Lucero and Laurel Chappell – both of whom are 4-5 on the season in singles matches.
The Panthers will go into Friday’s regional shorthanded once again, but their team score won’t determine whether or not singles players or doubles teams advance to the state tournament, so Anliker isn’t concerned.
Instead, she hopes the tournament will be noteworthy for seniors like Lucero, Chappell, Ashley Moore, Kayla Hageman, Kristin Pierce and Jennifer Sturman – and enlightening for underclassmen like Andria Battle, Angel Veach and Alyssa Utley.
“There are a lot of seniors on the team and this is their last year,” she said. “So I just want it to be a memorable time and a fun time, and for it to be a learning experience for the underclassmen – and just do our best.”