CHEYENNE – The Torrington High School girls’ tennis team officially opened the season on the road in Cheyenne on Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Blazers fell to the Cheyenne East Thunderbirds 3-2 in a nonconference match.

“This was a nonconference match that was played kind of like a practice match against East that we do every year to get our girls an extra match since our boys get to play Gering and Alliance,” first-year coach Lauren Shields said. “We took our entire girls’ team and had varsity and JV matches. Overall, we competed pretty well with Cheyenne East.”

Torrington’s No. 1 singles player Jacee Shields and the No. 2 doubles team of Reagan Jackson and Madix McIntosh picked up the two wins for the Lady Blazers.

Shields picked up a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Finley Kastens.

Shields battled back from early deficits in both sets to pick up the match win, including a 4-1 deficit to win five straight to pick up the opening set.

“She did a great job of running her opponent around the court and staying in the match,” Shields said. “It was a good win for her and gives her some great confidence that she can come back when she is down against an opponent.”

In No. 2 doubles action, Reagan Jackson and Madix McIntosh won the first set 6-3 but dropped the second set 6-4. In the tiebreaker, Jackson and McIntosh won 6-1 to secure the team’s second win of the day.

“The two doubles match was exciting to watch,” Shields said. “Reagan and Madix are great volleyers, and when they got to the net, East did not have an answer for that.”

In No. 2 singles action, Julianna Russell fell 6-1, 6-2 to Caroline DiSenso.

“We asked Julianna Russell to play two singles for us. She is more of a double’s player,” Shields said. “She embraced the challenge and worked hard in her match. Her opponent was pretty unconventional with her style of play.”

Torrington’s No. 1 doubles team of Kayla Watson and Kassidy Hurley split the first two sets, falling 6-1 in the first set but winning the second set 6-1. Watson and Hurley fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

“They came out guns blazing and won the first set 6-1,” Shields said. “They lost the second set. They got a little comfortable and their play was not as crisp and aggressive in that set. In the third set the girls worked hard but were still trying to lay back and groundstroke with East which is not our forte. They battled hard but came up a bit short of finishing it off in the third set.”

On the No. 3 doubles court, Katie Watson and Marlee Foy were swept in straight sets 6-3 and 6-4.

“They had not played together at practice yet, so they had to get used to each other while playing,” Shields said. “Katie is struggling with some feet issues right now and was not 100%. They worked hard and dropped their two sets.”

The alternates and junior varsity players got two sets each against Cheyenne East.

“I’m proud of our girls, they worked hard and had great sportsmanship,” Shields said. “This was a fun day of tennis in Cheyenne.”

Torrington opens conference action Saturday in Rawlins. Action gets underway at 1 p.m.