Event of the week: Girls tennis dual tournament begins Wednesday
Apr. 23—The spring sports postseason begins on Wednesday, and eight local girls tennis teams have paved their own paths past the regular season. It comes in the form of the team dual state tournament.
Ninth-seeded Dawson, in Class 3A, already earned a de facto bye in the first round because its opponent, No. 8 Steamboat, is on spring break this week. Peak to Peak, who returned a few individual state champions, enjoyed the highest seed in the Boulder County region with the No. 3 spot in 3A, with four teams all hailing from that classification.
Class 5A
No. 10 Pine Creek at No. 7 Fairview
Last year's 5A state runner-up, Fairview, took on a bit of a different identity this year. The Knights' reigning No. 1 singles queen, Quinn Bernthal, had to sit out the season due to injury, leaving junior Stella Laird to step up as their leading lady.
She's transitioned into the role seamlessly and holds a 14-1 record heading into the first round of the tournament. Last year's No. 2 doubles team, which also took home the gold in the individual tournament, broke apart to fill out the rest of the singles lineup, with seniors Jane Roth (14-1) and Maya Brakhage (14-1) taking 2 singles and 3 singles, respectively.
The Knights will host a Pine Creek team that hasn't experienced a whole lot of tournament play, instead holding a 7-3 record through duals. Through those 10 matches, Ava Lewis (1 singles) and Keelin Sills (2 singles) both enjoy 8-2 records.
No. 9 Legacy at No. 8 Regis
The Lightning have enjoyed perfection through dual play this year, going a smooth 10-0 as a team, but have certainly taken a few bruises along the way through tournament play. A few days after winning the nine-team Holy Family tournament, they placed seventh out of 14 at the Front Range League competition.
Now, they'll have to test those talents against some Raiders.
To date, Legacy's strongest showings have come from freshman 2 singles player Kaitlyn Tran (9-2) and its 2 doubles pair, juniors Megan Anthony and Leah Kirkpatrick, who boast a 9-0 mark. The Raiders, by comparison, have much more experience under their belts, with each line having played anywhere from 10 to 18 matches.
Class 4A
No. 11 Niwot at No. 6 Erie
The area's only two 4A qualifiers have the benefit of facing off with each other in the first round, and will meet up at Erie High School on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Tigers have paced themselves to a 5-3 record through dual play and have enjoyed incredibly strong game play from junior Nanoha Nakamura, who's only recorded one loss through 12 matches.
Niwot, by comparison, houses a collective 7-4-1 mark, with sophomore Sahasra Kolli stepping into the 1 singles role following her No. 2 singles crown a year ago. Her 4-3 record has helped propel the Cougars, who've seen the best regular-season result from senior Harper Behmer and junior Masha Oshmyan at 2 doubles (6-2).
Class 3A
No. 14 Resurrection Christian at No. 3 Peak to Peak
A year after taking home three individual state titles at last year's state tournament, the Pumas are back at it again with a dominant 6-1 record and masterful skills from their middle four lines. Junior Sydney Lewis, who won it all at 2 singles, has powered toward an undefeated, 13-0 record.
Junior Ranye Ezenekwe, at 3 singles behind her, has enjoyed nearly the same success, dropping just two of her 13 matches. Senior Ziba Ahamed/sophomore Sydney Parkinson (1 dubs) and senior Josie Adams/sophomore Molly Kolachov (2 dubs) boast 8-2 and 9-2 marks, respectively.
Resurrection Christian doesn't have nearly the same experience, playing only 10 matches, with Isabella Prohs carrying a 5-5 mark heading into Wednesday's dual.
No. 12 St. Mary's Academy at No. 5 Holy Family
The Tigers have seen no shortage of playing experience this season and will be heading into Wednesday's battle with a 13-2-3 record. Much of their strength lies with their doubles players behind Clara Meisner at 3 singles.
Meisner has propelled herself to an 11-2 record in the last singles line as senior Avery Alderman/sophomore Lauren Stonehocker (1 dubs, 14-1), seniors Kylie Horning/Sophia Pham (2 dubs, 13-2) and senior Kenna Dietz/junior Raelynn Pickup (3 dubs, 11-1) have followed her lead.
St. Mary's Academy, on the other hand, has taken part in just eight duals, which broke toward a 4-4 record. None of their ladies have more than four wins.
No. 11 Colorado Springs School at No. 6 Prospect Ridge Academy
The Miners owned a 6-3 mark as of Tuesday afternoon and owed much of that success to its 2 and 3 singles lines, who have each only suffered one loss. Sophomore Maya Anderson (2 singles) and freshman Shannon Schmidt have served as the beating heart of this PRA team, having won nine and eight matches, respectively.
All four doubles lines have seen a significant amount of experimentation, lending towards smaller records for the top pairs in each. By contrast, the Kodiaks boast an 8-1 team record, with their athletes having competed in up to 16 matches to date.
Should PRA pull out a victory, it will likely face off with Peak to Peak in the second round.
No. 9 Dawson
The Mustangs got out of the first round before it even started, with most of Steamboat Springs' athletes out of town for spring break. They'll most likely travel to No. 1 D'Evelyn later this week to brave the Jaguars.
Sophomore Isabella Jacobsma leads the way with a 5-2 mark at the team's top line.
