TD drops match with HRV, 7-1

“I have to admit, this one stung a bit, but what a testament to how far we’ve come,” TD head coach Debby Jones said. “We lost 7-1, but this was by far our best outing, as well as most competitive.”

One of the three tiebreaker matches went to The Dalles’ favor with Santillan and Monica De La Rosa going back and forth in the first two sets.

Santillan claimed the opener by a 7-5 margin, but De La Rosa inched ahead 7-6 in the second set to force a final round.

That is when Santillan imposed her will on De La Rosa, 10-5, to lock down TD’s only victory.

“Arlette was really down after her loss to Pendleton last week and to see her bounce back the way she did was really great,” Jones said. “She really kept a level head today and I believe it was the difference for her.”

In her No. 1 singles match, The Dalles’ Yahaira Alvarez lost 1-6, 1-6 to Montsie Garrido; and Dalia Mondragon put up a good fight in her 4-6, 3-6 loss versus Hood River Valley’s Ruby Dosier.

TD’s No. 3, Michaela Haight, engaged in a three-set marathon match opposite Jordan Ziegner but could not maintain her edge, losing 1-6, 7-10 in the final two sets after starting out with a 6-3 first-set win.

Lupita Contreras and Natalie Varland faced stiff competition in HRV’s Claire Oswald and Kirby Joseph, with the Eagles’ No. 1 duo turning things loose for a 6-2, 6-2 win.

Riverhawks Mireya Huila and Liz Leon lost 4-6, 4-6 versus Sally Evans and Kali Wetherell in their No. 2 doubles match; and then Karla Najera and Pearl Guzman suffered defeat at the hands of Hood River’s No. 3 team of Alivea Harsanyi and Barrett Ihde in three sets.

The Eagle pair won the opener, 6-4, and then Najera and Guzman returned the favor with a 6-4 second-set win to open the door for a tiebreaker.

Both teams matched each other shot for shot, until Harsanyi and Ihde rattled off the last two set points to take the finale, 10-8.

“We saw some great efforts at both No. 3 doubles and singles,” Jones said. “Pearl and Karla bounced back and played a much better second set and were just a point away from stepping away with their first win. The same was true for Michaela. It was a really great effort, especially with her being sick.”

At No. 4 doubles, TD’s Kristy Warren and Samantha Esiquio could not catch any breaks, as they lost 1-6, 1-6 to Silva Sankari and Jojo Summerset.

Playing in close matches is a good teaching tool the players cannot get from practices or scrimmages, so Jones is hoping that her players can find the edge to power through fatigue and missed shots to get the bounces to go their way.

“We now face a wonderful challenge in learning how to lock down the necessary focus to finish a match,” Jones said. “Many of the girls have not been in this position as far as having a legit opportunity to win. They want it so badly and you can tell they can almost taste it, but we have to reign in the pre-celebration and finish the job.”