In their first home action of the 2016 season, the Artesia High School tennis teams came away with a split in a dual against NMMI at the Mack Chase Athletic Complex.
The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Colts 6-3 on the afternoon, while the Bulldogs came up short of the Colts, 8-1.
While NMMI’s top girls owned the day against Artesia, the Lady ‘Dogs’ No. 3-6 singles and Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams picked up the wins necessary to boost their team.
In No. 3 singles, Kabryn Conner bested NMMI’s Flor Toscano 6-0, 6-2, Melissa Richards topped Sofia Brassea in No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-1, Hailey Ashe battled out a tight win over Savannah Lee in No. 5 singles (6-4, 3-6, 0-0 (10-2)), and Nicole Marquez defeated Miranda Nepep 6-0, 6-4 in No. 6 singles.
The No. 2 doubles team of Baylee McKinney and Richards earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Toscano and Brassea, and Ashe and Marquez defeated Lee and Nepep 6-1, 6-0 in No. 3 doubles play.
The Lady Colts’ top singles players, Megan Lynch and JinXiu Dong, defeated Artesia’s Marissa Lopez and McKinney, 0-6, 1-6 and 5-7, 5-7 respectively, while Lopez and Conner came up short of Lynch and Dong in No. 1 doubles play, 2-6, 0-6.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, struggled against a talented Colts team, with No. 4 singles player Jamey Kennemur posting Artesia’s lone win over Spencer Treat, 6-1, 6-2.
In other singles matches, Jake Trejo fell to Farid Yunes (3-6, 4- 6), Peyton Prothro was defeated by Francisco Saracho (0-6, 0-6), Josiah Kraft lost to Luis Fontes (2-6, 0-6), Tailor Baggerly was bested by Angel Reyes (1-6, 1-6), and Jesus Valdez came up short of Felix Higuera (3-6, 3-6).
The ‘Dogs came close to a win in No. 2 doubles, with Kraft and Kennemur taking on Fontes and Reyes but were edged out, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6. Trejo and Prothro lost to Yunes and Saracho in No. 1 doubles (3-6, 2-6), and Baggerly and Montanez were topped by Treat and Higuero in No. 3 doubles (1-6, 2-6).
The home dual came on the heels of the weekend’s Claire Higgins Invitational in Carlsbad, at which the Bulldogs placed fourth and the Lady ‘Dogs sixth out of eight-team fields.
Kennemur picked up an overall win in No. 4 singles for the ‘Dogs, with Prothro and Kraft finishing third in Nos. 2 and 3 singles and Trejo and Prothro in No. 1 doubles, Trejo finishing fourth in No. 1 singles, and Baggerly and the doubles duo of Kraft/Kennemur taking the consolation titles in No. 5 singles and No. 2 doubles respectively.
The Artesia girls notched a trio of fourth-place finishes, courtesy of McKinney in No. 2 singles, Ashe in No. 5 singles, and Marquez/Brooke Norman in No. 3 doubles.
The AHS varsity netters will now take a well-deserved two-and-a-half week break before hosting the annual Bulldog Invitational April 1-2 at The Mack.