Adam Evarts | News-Bulletin photo
The Belen Lady tennis team took second place in the state championship, losing to Albuquerque Academy. This is the furthest the team reached in the state tournament, according to coach Chrissy Cordova.

The Belen girls came just short of winning the state championship over the weekend, losing to Albuquerque Academy in the finals, 5-0.

“This is the furthest that Belen tennis has reached,” said head coach Chrissy Cordova. “They are always pushing for only the best, and they did it.”

The Lady Eagles were seeded three as a team in the state tournament. They reached the finals by beating Sandia Prep, 6-3, and Robertson, 5-3.

Led by five seniors, the Lady Eagles ended the season with a 16-3 overall record, including a perfect 6-0 district record to win the regular season district championship. The ladies also won the district tournament.

Isabella Jaramillo finishes her career with a combined season record in singles at 24-7, and ends 21-6 in doubles. Jaramillo finishes her astonishing run, that began as an eighth-grader, with an overall record of 62-9 in singles and 82-14 in doubles.

Riley Cordova finishes her career with a season of 21-11 in singles, and 21-7 in doubles. Cordova’s overall career finishes at 74-27 in singles and 77-16 in doubles. Cordova also began as an eighth-grader.

Delicia Salazar’s career record is 51-5 in singles and 41-5 in doubles action. Salazar went 6-1 in singles this season and 15-2 in doubles. Salazar began her career as an eighth-grader, serving as the three-singles that year.

Leslie Olveda played the majority of this season in doubles. Olveda ended this season with a 16-2 record in doubles and won her only singles match of the season. Olveda ends her career with a record of 21-2 in singles play and 37-6 in doubles.

Angelina Fragua began her Belen tennis career this season, going 11-12 in singles action, and 6-2 in doubles play this season.

All five seniors were captains on this year’s team, which was the most successful in Belen girls tennis history.

On the boys side, the Eagles duo of Taylor Wright and Vicente Silva made it to the quarterfinals in doubles, and ended up losing to the Dils brothers, from Albuquerque Academy, who finished as the champions.

The Valencia Jaguars boys team made it to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Albuquerque Academy.

Xavier Castillo made it to the quarterfinals of the singles bracket before he lost to Oliver Lorenz from Albuquerque Academy.

Castillo ends his senior season at 20-4 in singles and 17-2 in doubles. His stellar career finishes with a singles record of 48-10 and in doubles he went 35-12.

For Los Lunas, Taleyah Beyer reached the second round of the girls singles bracket. Beyer defeated Naomi Recker, of Hobbs, in the first round, before she lost to Stephanie Romero, of La Cueva.

Beyer ends her career at Los Lunas with a record of 16-9 in singles, following an 8-7 season. Beyer also finishes 11-10 in doubles in her career.

Nick Morales made it to the second-round on the boys side of the bracket. Morales lost out to Keegan Gooch, of Rio Rancho, which ended his season.

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Adam Evarts is a graduate of the University of New Mexico where he studied journalism and history. He has lived in Valencia County most of his life. Adam covers sports for the Valencia County News-Bulletin, including prep competitions for the three local high schools, Senior Olympics, rodeo, Little League and more.