Laurel Chappell is heading to state.
The Montezuma-Cortez senior entered last week’s Class 4A Region 8 Tournament in Grand Junction with a 4-5 record on the season.
And then she rattled off four consecutive wins to claim the region’s No. 3 singles championship.
After defeating Jasmine Huggett of Cedaredge (6-3, 6-1) and Olivia Carr of Aspen (6-4, 2-6, 6-2), Chappell moved on to the semi-finals where she was matched up against Hannah Liberman of Durango.
The Durango senior had beaten Chappell in two straight sets in March (6-4, 6-1), but Chappell said that she felt more prepared having already played Liberman.
Chappell got another confidence boost after sweeping the first set 6-0, and she would go on to defeat Liberman in three sets (6-0, 4-6, 6-1).
Chappell faced another familiar opponent in the finals.
Meg Franz of Montrose beat Chappell, 6-2, 6-4 on April 22. But the M-CHS senior was rolling heading into the championship match, and she took down Franz 6-3 in the first set.
Franz bounced back to win the second set, 6-4, and as the third set went back and forth, the title was up for grabs.
“I was nervous,” Chappell said. “But I think that when I got to the third set I realized that either way I had gotten further than I expected and that I was either going to get first or second. So either way I could go to state, so I just relaxed.”
Franz jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the final set, but Chappell responded by taking two straight games and a 5-4 lead.
Franz responded to tie the set at five games apeice, but then Chappell buckled down to finish the set in extra points, 7-5, to win the Region 8 No. 3 singles title.
“I have been working with her on improving her mental toughness and resiliency during each game,” said head coach Catherine Anliker.
“We’ve been practicing patience in each point and not letting mistakes or other circumstances affect her,” she continued. “She has been there athletically and skills-wise with every girl she competes with, but this part of her game needed improvement – and she was like an entirely different player.”
The Lady Panthers finished sixth out of ten in the team standings, but other than Chappell, senior Raquel Lucero was the only M-CHS player to win a set.
Lucero won her opening round match against Cedaredge’s Ali Pfenneberger, taking the first game in a tiebreaker and then winning the second game outright (6-6 [7-2], 6-4).
But she was eliminated in the second round by the eventual third-place finisher – Micaiah Nichols of Montrose – in two games (2-6, 2-6).
In doubles matches: Kristin Pierce and Ashley Moore fell to Durango (2-6, 3-6), Angel Veach and Andria Battle lost their opening match to Aspen (1-6, 1-6) and then fell in a playback to Montrose (3-6, 5-7), and Kayla Hageman and Jennifer Sturman dropped their only contest to Aspen (3-6, 1-6).
“Our doubles went up against some pretty tough teams in the first round,” Anliker said. “They’ve been so mismatched the entire season just because there’s been an influx of different people, but I think overall everyone played well and that’s all I can ask.”
Chappell advances to the Class 4A State Championships May 12-14 at Pueblo City Park, where she will face Discovery Canyon senior Emma Zamora in the opening round.
“There are a few things that we’re going to work on this week,” Anliker said on Monday. “Just a few different skills that she can improve on and a few different shots. But that’s really it. I have high expectations for her though based on how she did -- I really do.”
