At one point, it seemed that the weekend would end early for Española tennis.
Española’s top doubles team, the only remaining competitors from the school, fell down 5-0, and ultimately lost the first set of their district semifinal.
But Española Valley doubles pair Olivia Suazo and Jennifer Gallegos fought back to win 6-3 in the second set. Then, they capped a victory against the No. 3 seed with a 6-3 third set. The pair defeated the top seed, and took home the district girls doubles championship at the individual championships held in Santa Fe on April 28-29.
“We’ve been building this program for two, three years,” said Española coach Nancy Suazo. “I think tennis sometimes goes a little bit unrecognized. But these kids put in a lot of time and effort. And it’s a lot of hard work, and I’m just very proud of all their accomplishments.”
The pair were Española’s first girls district champions since 2004.
The first day got a late start when a surprising heavy snow pelted Santa Fe. The tournament was originally supposed to be in Taos, but was moved to Santa Fe to avoid the storm.
None of the other Española individuals or doubles teams qualified for state.
Olivia Suazo and Gallegos started the day as the No. 2 seed, giving them a bye in a first round that was abbreviated due to the snow. The pair won 6-1, 6-0 against a team from Santa Fe Prep to reach the semifinal.
Then, they needed three sets to beat Robertson’s second entry. After that 2.5-hour match, according to Suazo, they only had an hour to rest up, though the top seed on the other side of the bracket also needed three sets to win their semifinal.
The Española pair lost to Robertson’s top doubles team at the Capital Invite earlier in the year. And they did not have a chance to play at the district team tournament, since the match ended after the singles matches. This time, they would not be denied. Suazo and Gallegos breezed through a 6-3, 6-1 win for the district title.
“Mentally, they stayed extremely tough,” Nancy Suazo said. “They never gave up hope. They just kept grinding it out.”
Olivia Suazo and Gallegos had played together for some of last year, but Suazo entered the district and state tournament as a singles player (she made it to the second round of the state tournament).
The pair enters state as the No. 3 seed, with the tournament starting Wednesday afternoon and going into Thursday. Their first-round opponent is a pair from Lovington.
For the team tournament, Española’s girls team is the No. 6 seed after finishing second in the district, and they face No. 11 Bosque in the second round. Should they win, they will advance to face No. 3 Artesia.
The Española boys are the No. 11 seed, and face No. 6 Santa Teresa. Their potential quarterfinal would come against No. 3 New Mexico Military Institute.
Both tournaments start on Friday morning, with the semifinals and finals on Saturday.
“The expectation is to compete,” Nancy Suazo said. “Make sure you compete, make sure you represent your school well and your tennis community well. And let’s see how far we can get in.”