Boys tennis: Niwot sweeps titles at 4A Region 5
Oct. 4—NIWOT — Little stood in the way of LiChen Liao's return to the state championships. At the Class 4A Region 5 tournament at Niwot High School on Wednesday, he sailed to a regional title at No. 1 singles.
The Niwot senior, who won it all at No. 2 singles two years earlier, ended his day with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 victory over Frederick's Josiah Brittenham. A few hours before, he defeated Longmont's Wyatt Saunders in a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
He even achieved the feat without his full strength.
"I hurt my ankle against (Colorado Academy) a bit, so I guess my movements were restricted," Liao, sporting an ankle brace, said. "I felt like I was playing pretty good. I was trying to be as offensive as possible, just making the points shorter. Hopefully, my ankle's able to get better by state and then, hopefully, I can keep up playing offensive."
Liao credited a strong forehand to help him cruise to victory, as he looks to make his mark at the state tournament during his first year in Niwot's top line. Brittenham, on the other hand, will have to return to NHS on Thursday morning to learn his state tournament fate.
Despite taking second in the 1 singles bracket, he'll have to play a challenge match to see who will claim the second state-qualifying spot. Earlier in the day, he took down Mountain View with a 6-1, 6-2 campaign before facing off with Dawson.
"I played really well that one. I just tried to keep it to his backhand and get to the net. And then the second match, I played probably one of the best I've ever played. I played Dawson and it was 6-3, 6-4," Brittenham said. "I think it was just being consistent and making sure I hit every ball in the court with speed and topspin."
Last year, Brittenham placed second at his regional at 2 singles, but ultimately fell short when he lost his playback. He's hoping he can prevail on Thursday to seal his spot at Pueblo City Park for the 4A championships.
"I'm in the same situation I was last year," Brittenham said. "I hope I can get a better understanding of state and the competition there, and build on it for junior and senior year."
Niwot, on the other hand, won regional titles from the top all the way down to No. 4 doubles.
Playing the waiting game
Much like Brittenham, Longmont's junior 1 doubles pair of Owen Jones and Jack Kujawa will have to wait until Thursday to determine whether or not they'll be making the trip to Pueblo next week.
In their finals match, they lost to Niwot's Kyle Davidson and Sebastian Moy by 6-1, 6-1 scores. Before that, they defeated Frederick by an identical decision. They'll face off with Dawson next.
"Niwot did a good job of getting a lot of balls back," Jones said. "Most of the teams we play don't get balls back that we hit, so Niwot did a great job getting them back. I think that'll help prepare us for Dawson because they're also a pretty good team. They're really good at hitting back as well."
Jones noted that Kujawa has helped him stay calm no matter what a competition may throw at them, and Kujawa believes Jones' net game has kept them competitive this season. They're hoping those assets will propel them forward.
"We're just hoping to do good at state," Kujawa said. "We don't expect to win because of the teams that are there, but we're hoping to at least win a match."
