High school tennis teams improve as district approaches

It has been an upbeat winter for the Belen and Los Lunas boys tennis teams, and with the arrival of spring on Friday, the optimism should only increase.

BHS (6-0) has compiled an unbeaten record in dual matches, with Dylan Jaramillo and Cole Rodriguez leading the way as number one and two singles players, respectively.

“They are just strong. Their serves are so powerful,” said Chrissy Cordova, Belen coach, of Jaramillo and Rodriguez.

The pair is also the defending district champion in doubles. As a team, Cordova believes the Eagles will challenge for a district title, with a good chance to qualify for state because of overall depth.

“The boys, from one through six, are just strong, through and through,” the coach said.

The Los Lunas boys have also had an impressive winter, winning the Espanola Valley quad with the only dual meet loss coming against Rio Rancho.

“We’re looking good,” said Tigers’ coach Jennifer Castillo. “Our boys are looking pretty strong.”

Helping the Tigers move forward is Leon Donckeis, an exchange student from Belgium, who plays No. 1 singles. Right behind him are returners Alex Covarrubia and Darian Garcia, both seniors.

With a solid record, Castillo expects to qualify the team for the state championships as an at-large entrant if they don’t win district, plus qualify, “a couple of boys, singles or doubles” as well.

Castillo made her comments during a recent dual match against Valencia, which the Tigers’ swept by scores of 9-0. Castillo’s husband Matthew is the coach at Valencia, who acknowledges, “It’s a rebuilding year. We lost five seniors from our boys team.”

The Jaguars recently posted a solid 6-3 victory over Moriarty. It has helped that eighth-graders Caleb Gallegos and Luke Carrasco have been cleared to participate and could “change the dynamics of our team,” said Matthew Castillo. “And that’s what you need.” Tyler Anderson is playing at No. 1 for VHS.

The girls teams for Valencia and Los Lunas have quality players, but a lack of depth hurts each squad. VHS has a small roster, but most of the lineup has experience from last year.

At LLHS, Jennifer Castillo has a much larger roster to work with.

“We have quite a few freshmen that came out this year,” as well as veteran players including Hailey Lane, Sienna Cordova, Presley Lamb and Kendal Russel.

For Belen, the girls have pulled out an impressive four victories in duals by 5-4 scores.

“It’s just a matter of developing the bottom of the ladder to try to help out the top of the ladder,” said Coach Cordova. “It’s kind of like finding two wins on the bottom,” which is what the Eagles have been doing.”

At the top of the ladder are Ella Wilson, sophomore, and senior Ashtyn Carrillo Lovato, who Cordova calls, “My go-to team. They are my girls who keep it together.” The duo also forms the Eagles top doubles team.

The State Tennis Championships are set for May 6-9 at three locations in Albuquerque