ST. GEORGE - The Hurricane boys tennis team has made a home away from home this spring.
It's no secret HHS is undergoing a massive reconstruction project, which will include six new tennis courts before the fall season, but those projects have created wrinkles to the Tigers in the spring schedule.
While visions of brand-new courts creep through minds of those within the program, the present-day courts are the unfortunate reality.

The facilities are too worn to be played on other than practice. Due to the poor conditions, Hurricane's matches are being played at the Tonaquint Tennis Center in St. George.

"We're very appreciative to Tonaquint for letting us play on their excellent courts," said Tigers coach Marc Manuele during Thursday evening's 3-2 loss to Pine View. "We can't wait until (reconstruction) is complete. It's going to be a wonderful environment to play in, really helping our program tremendously."
Manuele added the new courts will not only bring prep tournaments to Hurricane, but could spark a tennis interest to young athletes with camps and other events.

Similar to relocation adjustments, Hurricane is enduring transition on the court.
After losing five seniors from last year's group, the Tigers are mixing and matching their depth chart halfway through the season. Outside of No. 1 and No. 2 singles players - Duncan Alger and Ricky Rahde respectively - it's a wait and see philosophy as players continue to develop their skills. Hurricane's inexperience showed against Pine View, dropping its No. 3 singles and both doubles matches at Tonaquint.
No. 1 doubles featured a three-setter with Pine View's Tom Lambert and Kendall Wilkey defeating Benson Rich and Harry Wheeler. Jared Ellsworth and Kasen Wright kept Pine View's luck going with a win over Karter Beardal and Shayden Hinton in No. 2 doubles.

Rahde gave the Tigers a much-needed win at No. 2 singles, defeating Jace Ellsworth, 6-1, 6-2.
The 3-hour, 20-minute duel was decided when Pine View's Ryan Kelly put away Jerrett Holdaway, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9-7), and 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

The Panthers' win keeps them in the hunt with Dixie for the No. 1 seed from Region 9 (4A), while Hurricane drops to 2-2 in region. Despite the loss, the Tigers are still in the mix for the No. 2 seed in 3A Region 9.
Individually, Hurricane's best hope for an individual state title is Alger.

The junior - and co-team captain with Rahde - looks to go further in May than his semifinal finish a season ago.
"I still have a lot to work on," said Alger, following his 6-0 and 6-1 match win over Peter Neve. "Consistency is the big thing. I have to limit my mistakes if I want to beat the best."

Alger looked sharper than his black Nikes during Thursday's match, returning most playable balls with pinpoint accuracy. His thunderous ground strokes were constant and it didn't matter if his points of attack were at his waist or chest-high. The loud thump against the strings of the racquet exemplified Alger's timing and technical approach to each slam.

"Duncan has become a real steady player," Manuele said. "He (Duncan) finds out his opponents weaknesses and attacks them. His strategy (ball placement) has improved a great deal since his freshman year."
DESERT HILLS 4, DIXIE 1: No. 1 singles - Jordan Lyden (DH) def. Brock Aldred (D), 6-1, 7-5; No. 2 singles - John Nelson (DH) def. Tavon Balian, 6-1, 6-3; No. 3 singles - RJ Kennedy (D) def. Christian Davis (D), 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
No. 1 doubles - Mason Ford/Jens Nielsen (DH) def. Danny Nelson/Christen Serage (D), 6-0, 6-3; No. 2 doubles - Kyle Hendrixson/Matt Plumb (DH) def. McKay Brown/Josh Winder (D) 6-2, 6-2.
Golf

Desert Hills carded a 177 to take another 3A Region 9 tournament at Sunbrook on Thursday.
The Thunder's Ashley Kraft shot the low round (42), while her teammate Teisa Swaydan finished second with a 44. Sarah Folks placed third with a 45. Jasmine Candland was fourth with a 46.
Cedar finished second with a 216. Canyon View placed third (237), and Hurricane finished fourth (240).
Softball

HURRICANE 8, DIXIE 2: The Tigers scored seven runs in the first inning and the pitching of Paisley Pearson shut the door the rest of the way for the win.