ALBUQUERQUE — Sometimes even in losing, a team wins.

Such was the case for the Santa Fe High girls tennis team.

The Demonettes were eliminated from the State Team Tennis Tournament late Friday.

But for the first time in head coach Bill Ellsworth's 10-year tenure, Santa Fe High got to celebrate a victory at state.

The ninth-seeded Demonettes ousted No. 8 Silver 6-3 Friday afternoon before getting swept by top-seeded Farmington in the quarterfinals later in the evening.

"We're in the second round," Ellsworth said. "That hasn't happened in my 10 years."

Instead of moaning about the defeat, however, the players were already looking ahead to next season.

"We're totally fired up for next year," said No. 3 singles player Melissa Miller. "Our goals are even higher."

Santa Fe's drop from Class AAAAA to AAAA this season played a large role in the Demonettes' resurgence, Ellsworth said.

"The girls right from the start were experiencing more success," he said. "And that helped their confidence. In tennis, confidence is extremely important. Playing in AAAAA and having to play in the same district with (Albuquerque) La Cueva and (Albuquerque) Sandia and (Albuquerque) Valley, it was really hard to get past that."

Instead, the Demonettes got to play Española Valley, Capital and Bernalillo.

"We can compete with those teams," Ellsworth noted.

As the day's events unfolded, the Demonettes displayed some individually strong character traits, as well.

Top singles player Greta Miller, who was still on the court at
10 p.m. in a grueling three-set match, left the team immediately after its victory against Silver.

Her parents rushed her to Bernalillo so she could compete in the district track meet.

"Our match (with Silver) went so long that when I got there, I only had five minutes to warm up," she said. "But I got second in the 800 meters and I qualified for state. It was really hard to focus but it was almost like I couldn't focus on anything else because it was going too fast. I just had to snap into it and get in the zone."

That running experience nearly helped pull off a big upset in against Farmington's top player, Mackenzie. Miller won the first set in a tiebreaker before dropping the next two sets.

"I'm tired," she admitted. "But I think the endurance from running helps me."

Teammate Rachel Miller, Melissa Miller's twin sister but no relation to Greta Miller, also had to persevere.

Late in her singles match, she had to stop, tears staining down her face as her stomach tossed and turned.

After a five-minute break during which she gulped down water, some antacid and an energy bar, she was ready to resume playing.

"It's hard to watch her out there," Melissa Miller said. "But you have to sort of separate yourself. I feel for her, but I'm so proud of her for going out there and finishing the match."

Although the loss to the Scorpions hurt, the day's experiences are something that the team can use in the future, said No. 2 singles player Cecilia Pacheco.

"It was a really big accomplishment to make it this far," she said.

"The Silver match was really close and could have gone either way. Getting through that first match felt good."

In other matches involving area teams, the second-seeded Los Alamos boys won their quarterfinals match with Goddard 5-1, thanks to a marathon 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory by Eli Berg at No. 5 singles.

"It was really long," he said. "A lot of it came down to who was more tired. With this kind of match, you just have to stay in it."