YOUR AD HERE »

Demon, Ram tennis players place at regional tournament

Joelle MilholmGlenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado – The Glenwood Springs tennis team was bound and determined to end its season on a good note.So even after the three singles players and four doubles squads lost their matches in the opening round of the Class 4A Region 8 Tournament on Thursday, the Demons bounced back on day two.The Demons’ No. 3 singles player Courtney Bender rallied back for a third-place finish as did the No. 4 doubles pair of Siobhan Sullivan and Haylie Westphal.Sometimes when a player or singles team wins the third-place match, they get a chance for a play back against the first-place player or duo. Unfortunately, the teams that beat the Demons lost their later matches to deny the Demons a chance for a playback and they narrowly missed taking second place to advance to state.Glenwood Springs head coach Phyllis Zilm said she was proud of her girls and is sad to lose eight of her players to graduation, as regionals was the final chapter in the prep careers of Westphal, Sullivan, Tess Kennedy, Taylor Smith, Megan McGavock, Teka Israel, Brie Carmer, Libby Sundeen and Jackie Nickel.Flores, Comings take third for RamsThe Roaring Fork No. 1 doubles team of Maria Flores and Celeste Comings has found ways to find all year. The pair started with a 4-0 record this season and entered Thursday’s regionals with a 6-1 mark. In the tournament’s opening day on Thursday, Flores, a junior, and Comings, a senior, were the only Rams to tally wins and qualify for the next round.On Friday, Roaring Fork’s top pair beat Vail Mountain 6-3, 6-3 and then faced Montrose in the semifinals. That’s where the duo’s winning streak ended as Montrose beat the Rams 6-3, 1-6, 5-7 and went on to the finals.”It was great to see them make it that far,” said first-year head coach Eileen Waski. While Waski was impressed with Flores and Comings, she was proud of her entire squad.”It was a good experience and they all played hard,” she said. “It’s been fun to teach them about the game and develop relationships with them. It was an honor. I had a blast.”Regionals marked the last high school matches for Comings, Elley McBrayer and Leslie French, but Waski is excited for the future.”We had some good freshman come in this year and we are going to play over the summer and do some camps and conditioning,” she said.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.