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Chloe Rychener and Kylette Garcia staying positive during a grueling week of tennis. Courtesy of Diane Rychener
State Tennis commenced on Wednesday 5/3/23 for the Pirates at Albuquerque Academy. The Pirates doubles team of Isaiah Tena and Joshuah Sausa were eliminated in their first match against a doubles team from Albuquerque Academy. The Lady Pirates doubles team of Alexia Munson and Karsyn Cash fell to the eventual individual 4A doubles champions from Albuquerque Academy. Both the doubles team of Chloe Rychener and Kylette Garcia and the singles competitor Annaliesa Lowther defeated their first-round opponents. The Lady Pirate team of Rychener/Garcia fell in the second round to the doubles team from Espanola Valley. Lowther was defeated by the #1 player coming into the tournament, Tatiana Spilca from Sandia Prep. Even though the Pirates Tennis team was unable to bring home anything from the tournament, they still made Grants proud!
On Friday, May 5, the Lady Pirate Tennis team started the team competition seated number five at Sierra Vista tennis courts. The Lady Pirates were the only district champions to not earn a firstround bye. This meant that they were one of the first teams to set foot on the courts and the last to leave. The day started with doubles matches against number 12 Los Alamos. After doubles were complete, the Lady Pirates were ahead two-to-one. In these team tournaments, it is the team that gets to five points first that wins. It didn’t take long during the singles portion for the Lady Pirates to defeat the Lady Hilltoppers with a final score of 54. The heat of the day continued and after a short rest, the Lady Pirates found themselves facing number four Sandia Prep. Again, at the end of the doubles matches, the Lady Pirates were ahead twoto- one. The singles contest lasted well into the evening, with sun setting on the Lady Sundevils’ season the Lady Pirates earned a spot in the next round with a final score of 62.
On Saturday, the Lady Pirates faced the number one ranked team and eventual state champions in 4A, the Lady Chargers of Albuquerque Academy in the semifinals. Even though Grants represented themselves well, Academy only needed five games to stop the Lady Pirate roll. The team may not have fulfilled all their wishes for the season, but they were able to earn the respect of tennis teams from the entire state.