Belen Eagles Split Tennis Dual, Girls Win 6-3, Boys Edge 5-4

Belen's boys tennis team pulled out a 5-4 victory over Alamogordo on the Eagles' home courts Wednesday, salvaging a split after the Tigers' girls program dominated from start to finish in a 6-3 win that gave Alamogordo the other half of the dual.

The girls match was never particularly close. Alamogordo controlled both singles and doubles play throughout, collecting six of nine points with the consistency that has made the Tigers a regular presence at the NMAA 5A State Tennis Championships. Players including Talee Westover have competed for Alamogordo at the state level in recent seasons, part of a program that also counts Jaxon Spencer and Tate Westover among its state qualifiers.

The boys match went a different direction entirely. Belen held on through a tight contest that came down to the final pairing, eventually securing the one-point edge on their home courts to prevent the Tigers from completing a sweep.

Alamogordo traveled from Otero County to Valencia County for the April 1 dual, competing out of District 3-5A of the New Mexico Activities Association. Belen aligns in the same 5A classification, a tier the Eagles joined in 2015 after student enrollment growth ended the school's run in Class 4A.

Belen's tennis program carries one of its defining moments from 1994, when Ray Jaramillo became the first Eagle to win a state singles title and anchored the boys team's only state team championship. The girls program has also advanced to state championship finals, giving Belen a history in both brackets that the current squads carry into every dual.

Alamogordo's girls left Valencia County with a clean road win; Belen's boys gave the home crowd a final-point finish to close out the split.