The WarDog girls varsity tennis team before the Western Slope Open weekend. Photo taken by Nikki Smith
The 2025 girls tennis season is already off to a great start. On March 7th through the 8th our WarDog ladies played against 16 different teams in the Western Slope Open (WSO) and fought hard to keep their opponents on their feet.
Palisade Senior, Joey Smith, who is on the WarDog tennis team, has spoken out about her experience and how she did. Smith plays at the No.1 Singles position, which is the toughest spot on the team. Smith lost her first match 0-6, 0-6 against Ralston Valley. Even though it was a tough loss for Smith she didn’t give up and continued her matches.
“The Western Slope Open Tournament has prepared me not only physically, but mentally also. Although I lost all of my matches, I still feel like I played some of my best tennis. These teams who come over to play in the tournament don’t mess around. They are the toughest teams we hit against all season.” No matter what happened on those courts that day and the losses that Smith experienced, she always left with a warm smile.
Palisade Sophomore, Kirra Trousdale, plays on the WarDogs tennis team and has also spoken about her thoughts on this thrilling experience. Trousdale and her partner, Palisade Senior Shaelyn David, played at the No.3
Doubles spot together. They played Fossil Ridge, Mountain Vista, Chaparral and Grand Junction. Trousdale shared her first ever experience at the WSO.
“This tournament was such a blast, it connected me with my teammates and I thought it was a great start to my season. I found that staying at the courts all day will bond the team very quickly.”
Trousdale is one inspiring athlete who is also in the DP program while managing to play tennis at the same time which is so impressive. Trousdale and her partner had an amazing win against Chaparral and Mountain Vista, but unfortunately lost to Grand Junction and Fossil Ridge. Winning and losing 50/50 is always still a great learning experience. Trousdale says, “I feel like I played very well and I fought for every point that I played. I thought this tournament was super fun even though we played against some tough teams. I think that this tournament was a blast and taught me what I can improve on for the rest of the season.”
The team effort and encouraging words all of our Bulldog tennis players have to say about their performance is always so heartwarming. Congratulations to all our strong Bulldogs who played in the 2025 tennis Western Slope Open and played their absolute best. Their season is off to a great start.