The Dalles tennis player Michaela Haight fires a return shot the other way in her singles match earlier this season. On Thursday, Haight and the Riverhawks wound up losing by a 6-2 margin in a league contest at Hermiston. Arlette Santillan won at No. 4 singles, and the No. 3 doubles tandem of Karla Najera and Pearl Guzman slipped past Katie Bradshaw and Emery Snyder by scores of 6-4, 7-5. TD heads to Wilsonville for a non-league tilt at 4 p.m. Monday.
The Dalles tennis player Michaela Haight fires a return shot the other way in her singles match earlier this season. On Thursday, Haight and the Riverhawks wound up losing by a 6-2 margin in a league contest at Hermiston. Arlette Santillan won at No. 4 singles, and the No. 3 doubles tandem of Karla Najera and Pearl Guzman slipped past Katie Bradshaw and Emery Snyder by scores of 6-4, 7-5. TD heads to Wilsonville for a non-league tilt at 4 p.m. Monday.
Back on April 4, The Dalles girls’ tennis team could only muster 37 set points in an 8-0 home loss to Hermiston.
Thursday, Arlette Santillan claimed a singles victory, and the No. 3 doubles tandem of Karla Najera and Pearl Guzman added a straight sets triumph, as the Lady Riverhawks racked up 44 set wins in a 6-2 loss at Hermiston High School.
“This was another big step in the right direction for these girls,” TD head coach Debby Jones said. “It was the first time we picked up two wins and the team showed definite improvement from the first time we played them.”
The first three singles matches had TD losing by an average of 4.8 points, with all of them ending in straight sets.
After the opening set, it looked as though Santillan was headed the same direction following a 1-6 loss to Hermiston’s Olivia Thomas.
As the match wore on, Santillan gained confidence and it showed in a 6-4 second-set victory, which sent the match to a third-set tiebreaker.
In the final set, both players battled to an 8-all draw, until Santillan showed the inner resolve by racking up the final two set points for the 10-8 comeback win.
“Arlette played another marathon match at No. 4 singles, coming back from a set down to secure her second straight win of the season,” Jones said. “Arlette was so patient and really dug deep after losing the first set.”
The Dalles doubles teams had a little bit more success, losing three of the four matches in straight sets.
At No. 3 doubles, however, Najera and Guzman made sure to end the losing trend in a gritty match against Hermiston’s Katie Bradshaw and Emery Snyder.
Najera and Guzman claimed the first set by a close 6-4 margin and then picked up the pace for a 7-5 win in the second set to come out on top.
Jones said that both Najera and Guzman have put in extra work on doubles movement with assistant coach Chelsea Gay and it is paying dividends.
“Karla and Pearl played an outstanding match,” Jones said. “They were so patient and picked their opportunities to close at the net wisely. With the exception of a tough matchup at No. 1 doubles, all of the doubles matches were much more competitive.”
TD’s Yahaira Alvarez lost 1-6, 0-6 in her No.1 match versus Mackenzie Hall to kick off the singles round.
Dalia Mondragon wound up on the wrong side of a 3-6, 2-6 decision at No. 2 singles opposite Hermiston’s Lindsay McAllister, and Riverhawk standout Michaela Haight lost 1-6, 0-6 to Adriann Stewart in their No. 3 contest.
At No. 1 doubles, TD’s Lupita Contreras and Natalie Varland were upended by Breena Wadekamper and Reed Middleton by tallies of 0-6, 1-6, and the No. 2 tandem of Mireya Huila and Liz Leon lost to Hermiston’s Breckyn Mecham and Alyssa Perkins, 4-6, 3-6.
The No. 4 Riverhawk team of Ari Andrade and Samantha Esiquio engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle against Ashlyn Hofbauer and Violet Mitchell, but lost in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6.
Next week, the girls have three challenging matches ahead.
At 4 p.m. Monday, the Riverhawks are on the road for a non-league match against Wilsonville, and then hosts Pendleton at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
On April 27-28, TD makes a trip out to Bend for tournament play.
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