Riverhawk tennis dismantles Hood River Valley, 7-1

In four doubles matches, TD cruised to a lopsided sweep and finished its 7-1 romp by scoring three of four singles wins in a varsity contest played at The Dalles High School.

“This was a strong win against our rivals,” TD head coach Debby Jones said. “They’ve had our number the last few years, so this felt good. They are a young team and our experience paid off big for us.”

Lupita Contreras and Natalie Varland had the closest of the four doubles victories, as they cruised past Jihan Ziada and Maurissa Eshleman by margins of 6-2, 6-2 in No. 1 play.

Riverhawks Karla Najera and Pearl Guzman had no issues defeating Yarely Cruz and Briana Santillan, 6-0, 6-0, and the No. 3 tandem comprised of Riley Brewer and Hannah Biehn made quick work in their 6-1, 6-1 decision.

TD’s No. 4 duo, Ari Andrade and Kristy Warren, completed the four-match blanking by taking control in a two-set shutout, 6-0, 6-0, against Chloe Sanborn and Indigo Caudill.

The Dalles’ Dahlia Mondragon bested Monica De La Rosa, 7-6, 6-2, at No. 2 singles, teammate Michaela Haight hardly broke a sweat in her 6-2, 6-3 dispatching of Erica Matthisen, and Delainny Lobato polished off Hood River’s Taryn Phillips, 6-0, 7-5.

HRV’s one win came at No. 1 singles, where Montsie Garrido beat Charel Gijzen by final scores of 7-5, 6-3.

Jones is happy with the team’s progress over the last few matches, which shows her that mindset aspects are being considered.

“It’s not only the wins, but how they are happening,” Jones said. “Both on the singles and doubles sides, the players are starting to execute and dictate play, instead of hoping their opponents make a mistake.”

The Dalles hosts Pendleton at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and travels to Redmond for a pivotal league grudge match at 4 p.m. Thursday.