Tennis-Love: Rams ready to bolster young team, Storm have strong showing

ALBUQUERQUE — The Rams and Storm tennis squads kicked off their seasons on Feb. 21 at the Statewide Tournament at Albuquerque Academy (and Jerry Cline Park) with strong finishes all around.

The Rams boys finished in seventh place, but they are a young team and are expected to improve significantly as the season progresses.

“We’re a really young team so there are going to be some growing pains,” said boys team head coach Tom Gutierrez. “That said, I thought we had some good moments, especially on the doubles side where we were able to be competitive with some of the more experienced teams. We’ll continue to grow and learn as we go.”

The tennis season is long and there will be plenty of chances for the Rams to prove themselves.

The team is led by Henry Hostetler, the Rams top-ranked player, is an experienced player in both singles and doubles, and offers RRHS a diverse powerhouse.

On the rise, the Rams have the sophomore powerhouse of Austin Searle and Boston Baugh. Both come with high ceilings and records of success. As freshman, the pair qualified for the State Championship Tournament in doubles.

“We need to continue to play well and to improve,” said Gutierrez. “We have a chance to get to State again, for the fourth year in a row, but we need to keep working diligently.”

The Rams girls are also a young team, but their fire led them to a third-place finish.

“We had a very good showing and especially the younger players stepped up,” said girls head coach Uwe Balzis.

The girls are led by seniors Emilee Miller (ranked second on the team), Aurora Espinoza (ranked third) and Alexys Catlin (fourth). The top ranked Ram is freshman phenom Ella Jones.

Despite the senior leadership, the team will look to integrate new players with an eye towards the future.

“We have several new players on the team that need to be integrated for varsity matches, especially in doubles,” said Balzis. “As in the past years we will have a competitive team again, hope to compete for the district title, and qualify for the state tournament.”

For the Cleveland Storm, the day finished with big successes. The boys took third and the girls took fifth.

Next up, the squads head south for the Alamogordo Quads Tournament, which lasts for two days starting Feb. 28.

Statewide Tournament results

BOYS

1 Albuquerque Academy (Albuquerque, NM) 66

2 Piedra Vista (Farmington, NM) 33

3 Farmington (NM) 19

4 Cleveland (Rio Rancho, NM) 16

5 Alamogordo (NM) 4

6 Carlsbad (NM) 3

7 Rio Rancho (NM) 2

8 Capital (Santa Fe, NM) 1

GIRLS

1 Albuquerque Academy (Albuquerque, NM) 56

2 Farmington (NM) 38

3 Rio Rancho (NM) 17

4 Alamogordo (NM) 12

5 Cleveland (Rio Rancho, NM) 5

6 Piedra Vista (Farmington, NM) 3

7 Carlsbad (NM) 2

8 Capital (Santa Fe, NM) 0