Eagles, Tigers and Jaguars compete at state tennis tourney

ALBUQUERQUE — The competition at the 4A State Tennis Championships proved once again to be outstanding, with both the Belen girls and boys battling against New Mexico’s top talent at several locations in Albuquerque.

In the team bracket, the fifth-seeded BHS girls started with a solid 5-2 victory over No. 12 Grants at Sierra Vista West Tennis Complex. However, the Eagles lost to fourth-seeded Española Valley, 5-3, in the quarterfinals.

For the boys, No. 6 Española Valley was too much for No. 11 Belen, posting a 5-0 victory in the opening round match.

The tournament got off to a difficult start Wednesday during the 4A singles and doubles competition at Albuquerque Academy.

The Eagles’ doubles team of Ava Fragua and Gabriela Jaramillo, the No. 1 overall seed, dropped their opening round match. Fragua and Jaramillo captured the first set against Albuquerque Academy’s Kira Kampschmidt and Kai Gehres but lost the next two and were eliminated 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Kampschmidt and Gehres went on to finish state runner-up.