Española senior Aubrianna Garduno had lost to Santa Fe Prep’s Hannah Kaufman 6-1, 6-2 earlier in the season.
This day was a different story.
Garduno had worked with coach Nancy Suazo on facing a taller opponent, focusing on being less aggressive.
“Aubrianna bought into that policy, and it showed today, and now she’s peaking at the right time,” Suazo said. “All the girls are doing phenomenal. I cannot say enough about all of these girls.”
Garduno provided a key win as the Española Valley girls tennis team defeated Santa Fe Prep 6-3 on Friday in the district semifinals to reach the final. The team won five of the six singles matches, clinching the win before having to play the doubles matches.
The Sundevils had defeated Santa Fe Prep 5-4 in a matchup in March, but the Griffins did not have a full team, and so they expected this one to be different.
Garduno, in the 3 Singles matchup, narrowly lost the first set, but won the second, and cruised to a victory in the third.
“I knew I had to get it for the team, so I just played more consistent,” Garduno said.
After dropping the top singles match against an elite opponent, Española won all the other five.
The strength for the team all season has been how well they can play in the lower flights. Kaydence Arrey, Isabella Archuleta and Vanessa Martinez all sport very strong records at the 4-6 singles.
“We always can count on our lower players to come in,” senior Jennifer Gallegos said. “We can just go out there and play confident.”
A week earlier, Española won their district pool play against three other district teams, which team coach Nancy Suazo said was potentially the first time either a boys or girls Española team had done so.
A year ago, the Sundevils finished second in the district, and made it to the state semifinals, both believed to be program bests. But the loss in the final to Robertson is something the team is looking to reverse.
“We came into districts knowing we were going to get this far again,” Gallegos said. “We’re trying to do better than last year.”
The Lady Sundevils will play Robertson in the final.
“Our focus is, you can only play the ball that they hit back to you,” Suazo said.
Boys fall just short in semifinals
After multiple three-set thrillers, and nearly a miraculous comeback, Española Valley came up just short in a 5-4 loss to Santa Fe Prep in the semifinals.
At one point, Española trailed 4-1, and were down a set in two matches, needing to win all four to advance. They came remarkably close to doing so.
“I’m proud of the way they competed, I’m proud of the way they embraced it, I’m proud of the way they wanted to win,” Suazo said.
The battle came down to the 2 Singles. Owen Silva-Vigil for Española lost the first set against an opponent he once lost to 6-1, 6-0. But he battled back to win the second set 6-4.
In the third set, he went up 4-3, and every point had extra meaning. After each winning point, Silva-Vigil would shot and pump his fist. Most of the team, boys and girls, were watching the match to see if he could pull out a win.
After the match, Silva-Vigil was overcome with emotion from the tense competition, and ripped his shirt open.
But Santa Fe Prep’s Jackson Friedland had just enough left to pull out the win in the final set, clinching the victory for the Griffins.
Jesus Orozco in 5 singles also had a good fight, losing the first set 7-5, but coming back to win 6-2 and 6-3 in the third set.
Española had lost two of the three doubles matches, which proved to be the difference, while ultimately splitting the six singles matches (Española won in 3, 4 and 5).
Española’s boys had finished second in pool play, losing 6-0 to Los Alamos though with multiple close losses.
A year ago, Española finished fourth in the district, and as the No. 11 seed team seed at state, they won 9-0 in a first-round upset.
Española will face either Robertson on Saturday in a third-place match.
“Just didn’t turn our way,” Suazo said. “But we’re going to hopefully make it turn our way tomorrow.”