The state tennis championships were the same day as prom night for Española Valley High School.
But as they fought in the state semifinals, their upcoming evening appeared to be out of sight and out of night.
“That was the furthest thing from their mind,” said Española Coach Nancy Suazo, who before the match was nervous it would be a distraction. “They were not discussing it, they weren’t asking how much longer. They wanted to win, and that competitive spirit can’t be beaten.”
The Lady Sundevils made it all the way to the semifinals, and gave a good fight to Albuquerque Academy before losing on May 11 in Albuquerque. Meanwhile, the boys team again made it to the quarterfinals, and came close to advancing.
Matches at the state tournament are best-of-nine, with six flighted singles matches and three doubles matches.
The girls were emotional after their loss.
“It just hit us that it’s our last year, it’s our last time playing,” said senior Aubrianna Garduño. “We’ve gotten so close with the girls on our team. We’re just going to miss them.”
After finishing second in their district, Española was awarded the No. 4 seed in the state tournament, earning them a first-round bye.
“I think it just means we’ve arrived as a program overall,” Suazo said. “A lot of coaches around the state respect our program, respect our kids. Respect the work we’ve put in, even the sportsmanship and demeanor on the court.”
Opposing coaches and state officials throughout the week praised Española, mentioned loving watching them play, and celebrated the way that Suazo had built the program.
In their first match, Española faced No. 5 seed Belen. The doubles were a tough contest, with Belen’s team being the top overall seed at the state tournament earlier in the week. Española won quickly in their third doubles, and their top team battled to a third set before losing, while the second team won in a third set.
Once the singles finally started, though, Española cruised. Their No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles players all won in quick succession.
At about 7:45 p.m., as darkness crept in, tournament officials wanted to move the remainder of matches to another facility that had lighting (which they did with an ongoing dual between Robertson and Santa Fe Prep). But Española and Belen’s coaches agreed to finish off the matches as the deciding one was nearly over.
No. 5 singles player Isabella Archuleta was the last player out on the court after every other match had been pulled off, leaving her to finish. She did, winning 6-0, 6-2, advancing Española to the semifinals.
Top singles player Olivia Suazo was in a good match in the third set against a strong opponent, but ultimately was unable to finish.
In the next round, Española had quite a tough task with Academy, who would go on to win their fifth straight state title. Some expected the Chargers to sweep every match in about an hour.
But the Lady Sundevils were determined to fight. Freshman Archuleta took over her match and won 6-4, 6-2, defeating an opponent who had been 16-2. Sophomore Kaydence Arrey made it to a third set in No. 4 singles before falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 against an opponent who had been 16-1 in singles.
“They’re such a good team that competing with them was great for us,” Garduño said. “It just goes to show how much our team has improved throughout the year.”
Olivia Suazo, a sophomore, fought all the way back in the second set from down 4-1 to up 5-4 to eventually force a second-set tiebreak while visibly fighting through back pain. But she ultimately lost 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
“We were right there,” Nancy Suazo said. “We came up a little bit short, but if you were to look at scores from prior years, I don’t think we’ve been that close, ever, when we’ve played Academy.”
As a result, Academy took five of the six singles matches to finish the dual at 5-1. The doubles matches were unnecessary, and so Española got to have an early start on prom preparations.
Boys Team Reaches Quarters
Joaquin Salazar had never had a break between matches before, in five years of playing tennis tournaments.
But when the Sundevils dispatched their first round opponent in barely an hour, they headed back to their Albuquerque hotel before returning to Sierra Vista Tennis Complex later in the afternoon.
“We’ve never, ever had this in our life,” said Española’s senior and No. 3 singles player. “We’ve always been back-to-back, back-to-back. We’ve never had a rest, between all our tournaments. Until today.”
Ultimately, the boys pushed hard against Los Alamos, but lost 5-3 in the state quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed, falling to the eventual state runners-up on May 10.
“The past five years of tennis has been very developmental,” Salazar said. “We grew a lot. Created a lot of memories. But I don’t think we should have went out in this way.”
In the first round, Española faced No. 11 Belen. The singles matches began at 8 a.m., and all ended by about 9:05. The doubles matches were all unnecessary. None of Española’s six singles players lost more than five games in victories.
In the quarterfinals, Española faced Los Alamos. Despite a 5-3 loss, the Sundevils pushed the Hilltoppers for over five hours before heading off the courts.
“We performed way better than we ever performed,” senior top singles player Ian Gaytan said. “State brings the energy, state brings out a different side of people. You want it more. You practice all year, for some people their whole life, and you crave it.”
Three weeks earlier, in district play, Española lost 6-0 to Los Alamos, losing all six singles matches.
This time was a completely different story. Damian Gallegos, Jesus Orozco and Chris Gaytan all pushed their matches into a third set in the No. 4-6 singles. They won all three. Even Ian Gaytan was at 5-5 in the second set against the state singles finalist before dropping the match.
Heading into the doubles split 3-3 was not what Los Alamos had expected. And they continued fighting, especially in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. But ultimately the Hilltoppers pulled off victories in the top two matches, and opted not to finish the third.
Three of the four semifinal teams were from the same district as Española. And the Sundevils were the only losing team to win even a single point in the quarterfinal round. Española throughout the year had to face those tough teams, preparing them for a run at state.
“We played Los Alamos six times before we could perform as well as we did,” Ian Gaytan said.
Nancy Suazo (who passed credit to assistant coaches) has done a remarkable job building up a top-of-the-line program. Despite hardly ever having players with any tennis experience before high school.
Ian Gaytan, before becoming a top-tier player, started with no tennis experience.
“I was an eighth-grader with no life,” Gaytan said. He and Salazar were close, and the two decided to join the team together.
By all accounts, the key to her success is just making the tennis courts and the team such a fun place to be, that various athletes come out to try, recruited by friends. Then they get addicted, and want to commit to succeeding. Every player interviewed thanked her for her coaching, and for going above and beyond for the team when administrative support was lacking.