Morenci tennis girls host Cowgirls in regular season finale

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Sophomore Taylor Begay meets the ball during a singles pairing with Duncan. She has won two of four matches in April.

By Raymundo Frasquillo

MORENCI – The Brenda Street-coached Morenci tennis girls host Willcox for the regular season finale Tuesday, April 16.

Morenci fell 5-4 to the Bobcats in Benson on April 2, plus 0-9 to the Thatcher Eagles on April 4, 2-7 to the Bobcats on April 8, and 5-4 to the Duncan Wildkats on April 11 with all three in Morenci.

The No. 23 Wildcats (4-9 seeding, 0.0283 rating, 2-9 section) are 29-48 in singles and 17-22 in doubles following 13 duels.

In singles, No. 1 junior Keanna Cortez 0-12, No. 2 sophomore Izobel Uranzorig 3-10, No. 3 junior Corrie White 5-8, No. 4 junior Monica Gonzalez 8-5, No. 5 sophomore Taylor Begay 6-7, No. 6 freshman Vivianna Mendez-Draper 2-2, and junior Madalyn Wright 5-4.

In doubles, No. 1 Cortez – Uranzorig is 2-10, White – Gonzalez 5-6, No. 3 Wright – Draper 3-1, Cortez – Gonzalez 0-1, White – Wright 2-0, White – Draper 1-0, Uranzorig – Draper 0-1, Begay – Draper 3-2, and Begay – Wright 1-1.

Duncan – 5, Morenci – 4

Morenci won four pairings, three singles and a doubles over the visitors.

The singles wins were by Gonzalez (9-7 over senior Brooklyn Kempton), Begay (10-6 over sophomore Kinsley Rapier), and Mendez-Draper (10-0 over freshman Ella Jernigan). The doubles win was by White – Wright (10-1 over Rapier – Jernigan).

For Duncan, Kempton (10-2 over Cortez), Lunt (10-2 over Uranzorig), and Claridge (10-4 over White) won singles pairings.

In doubles, it was Kempton – Claridge (10-6 over Cortez – Gonzalez) and Lunt – Neilson (11-9 over Uranzorig – Mendez -Draper) with the wins.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Monica Gonzalez fallows the ball into her racquet for a return. The Morenci junior is in the No. 4 slot, 8-5 in singles and 5-7 in doubles with two separate partners.

Benson – 5, Morenci – 4

The Wildcats came up with the exact score, winning three singles and a double pairing, the second time against the Bobcats, but the doubles partners were different.

White (6-3, 6-2 over sophomore Taylor Lutz), Gonzalez (10-8 tie-breaker over sophomore Paige Vaughn, won 6-2, lost 0-6), and Begay (6-1 twice over junior Lacy Hamilton) got singles wins. The White – Wright duo defeated Hamilton – sophomore Dahlia Bustamante 8-5.

Benson, senior Kay Lee Merrill (6-0, 6-1 over Cortez), senior Julia Little (10-7 tie-breaker over Uranzorig, lost 2-6, won 6-4), and Bustamante (6-1, 6-2 over Draper) had singles wins.

In doubles, Merrill – Lutz (8-5 over Uranzorig – Draper) and Little – Lutz (8-4 over Cortez – Gonzalez) posted wins.

Thatcher – 8, Morenci – 0

The Eagles were a match short of sweeping the Wildcats, splitting singles sets and leaving it at that, according to the reported score.

Thatcher senior Lacie Whitmer and Cortez split sets, with each winning 6-0.

Senior Savanna Turley (6-1, 7-5 over Uranzorig), sophomore Ashlyn McMaster (6-1 twice over White), sophomore Sydney Alder (6-0, 6-1 over Gonzalez), sophomore Maddie Palmer (6-0, 6-17 over Begay), and senior Brooklyn Scarborough (6-110-6 tie-breaker over Draper, won 7-4, lost 0-6) had the singles wins.

In doubles, identical 8-1 scores were posted by Whitmer – McMaster (over Cortez – Uranzorig) and Turley – Scarborough (over White – Gonzalez) and 8-0 by Alder – Palmer (over Begay – Draper).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Freshman Viviana Mendez-Draper readies to serve the ball against Duncan. She is in the No. 6 slot, 2-2 in singles and a combined 7-4 with four different partners.

Benson – 5, Morenci – 4

Morenci won five singles and three doubles pairings.

White (6-3, 6-2 over sophomore Taylor Lutz), Gonzalez (10-8 tie-breaker over sophomore Paige Vaughn, won 6-2, lost 0-6), and Begay (6-1 twice over junior Lacy Hamilton) got singles wins. The White – Wright duo defeated Hamilton – sophomore Dahlia Bustamante 8-5.

Benson, senior Kay Lee Merrill (6-0, 6-1 over Cortez), senior Julia Little (10-7 tie-breaker over Uranzorig, lost 2-6, won 6-4), and Bustamante (6-1, 6-2 over Draper) had singles wins.

In doubles, Merrill – Lutz (8-5 over Uranzorig – Draper) and Little – Lutz (8-4 over Cortez – Gonzalez) posted wins.