Cherry Creek girls tennis coach Andy Zurcher claims his team is playing better. But still, he admits Ralston Valley is the team to beat when it comes to the state tournament.
Once again, there will be an individual tournament to declare state champions and a team tournament to determine the best team in the state.
Individual regional tournaments this year must be completed by May 30. The girls individual state championships will be on May 8-10 at the Denver Tennis Park and the team state title will be decided on May 13 at Denver Tennis Park.
Cherry Creek, which has won 39 state titles, won the Denver East/Cherry Creek Invitational Tournament on April 12.
“We are getting better every time we go on the court,” said Zurcher. “There was some good competition in this tournament and when you play and are a little bit nervous, that shows the things you need to work on. It was good to see the girls work through those big moments.”
The Bruins finished with 25 points with Fossil Ridge coming in second with 19.
Rock Canyon had 17 points in the tournament. Fort Collins was fourth, Poudre fifth, Niwot sixth and ThunderRidge seventh in the 12-team tourney.
“You need to see how you perform under pressure,” Zurcher said. “As the season goes on and you get get bigger and bigger matches, you want to thrive and that’s what our girls had a chance to do in this tournament with less consequences. It’s the same emotions you have to play through.”
Cherry Creek will be one of the teams chasing after defending champion Ralston Valley in the upcoming state team event.
“Ralston Valley is the runaway favorite,” admitted Zurcher. “We’re a good team, Fossil Ridge is obviously a good team, and Regis is typically a very good team and Valor. Those teams are good, but Ralston Valley is a clear favorite and there are a bunch that are going to be chasing them. We’re one of those teams and we’ll see what we can do.”
Cherry Creek’s depth and a No. 3 singles championship prevailed in the invitational tournament on April 12. The Bruins won all four doubles title matches.
Creek junior Zoe Hochstadt took first in the No. 3 singles event with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Lara Seager of Fossil Ridge.
“I’ve been doing a building block of how I want to do in the future,” said Hochstadt. “I played hard and I am going forward. I played better in the second set. She is a tough opponent. I played pretty well.”
In the doubles action, Creek’s Elena Sepesi and Zoey Hao defeated Megan Knudson and Ally Jenkins of Rock Canyon, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
The Creek duo of Karissa Manley and Lizzie Harbaugh downed Rock Canyon’s Mia Wynne and Skylar Smith, 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 2 doubles title match.
Dylan Milo and Sydney Wadsworth of Creek captured the No. 3 double championship, while the Bruins’ pair of Ashley Geoghegan and Chagajee Colburn downed Reagan O’Neill and Zoe Katsoulas of Rock Canyon, 6-2,6-1 in the No. 4 doubles final match.
In other title matches, Irene Cobbs of Fossil Ridge took the No. 1 singles crown with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Sanskriti Sinha of Rock Canyon. Fossil Ridge’s Sophie Hartman beat Creek’s Autumn Doyle, 6-1 , 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
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