KEENESBURG – One thing seems certain about Fort Lupton’s Kalley Harriss.
    She enjoys playing tennis, whether it takes 2 ½ hours to play her match (that’s happened a lot this spring) or, in those rare instances, when it takes just an hour and 35 minutes, as it did Thursday against Weld Central’s Madison Graham.

    Harriss, who is in her second year of interscholastic tennis, worked her way up the tennis ladder to the second singles position for last week’s match. Harriss won her first three matches of the season as the Bluedevils’ third singles player.
    “I tried out because I thought it would be fun,” she said. “Dad and I hit on the Brighton courts (Fort Lupton has no tennis courts of its own) during the summer before I was a freshman. Our neighbors play tennis, and I thought it would be fun. So I decided to join.”
    Graham won Thursday’s match in straight sets – the first set went to a tie-breaker. But Harriss has no regrets.
    “It has been a lot of fun,” she said. “I’ve done a lot sports. But when it came time for practice, it was, ‘Oh, I have to go,’” she said. “With this, I want to go to practice. I really love it.”
    What she likes the most is depending on up to just one other person at a time.
    “I’d rather depend on myself or the one other person instead of an entire team,” she said. “I love it.”
    Harriss doesn’t have a particular favorite stroke.
    “No, not really,” she said. “It’s what the coach (Christy Blanchard) thinks we should focus on the most. That’s what we’ll work on.”
    Success doesn’t come often to the Bluedevils’ tennis team. Weld Central beat Fort Lupton 7-0 Thursday afternoon. All seven matches went the minimum two sets. Harriss  and the No. 2 doubles team of Taylor Harriss and Connie Hernandez extended their matches before eventually losing to their opponents.
    “I’m learning that you can’t give up, that you have to keep a positive attitude,” Harriss said. “You’re not going to win every point or every match. You have to be confident and you have to have fun. If you don’t, you’re not going to do well.”

Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith at ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com or at 303-659-2522, ext. 224.