Colorado girls tennis tournaments looking competitive in all classes

Despite an already announced postponement, the state tennis tournaments will take place this week marking the official start of spring postseason play.

The Class 5A tournament will be held, as always, in Denver while 4A will play at Pueblo City Park with 3A staying north in Greeley.

Play has been condensed down to two days, but the competition will be fierce regardless. There are plenty of returning champions and players looking to capitalize on the departure of dominant players.

With things set to roll on Friday, here is an outlook of how things will play out in all three tournaments:



Class 5A

As is tradition in the top class of the state, the team race figures to come down to Fairview (Boulder) and Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village). The Bruins have 35 girls tennis team titles, 13 more than any other school. They've won two straight after Fairview claimed gold back in 2016. That win by the Knights ended a streak of 19-straight team titles for Cherry Creek.

The loss of Ky Ecton will hurt chances for Poudre (Fort Collins) to contend for a team title, especially considering the Impalas didn't qualify a player for the No. 1 singles bracket.

Denver East (Denver) could get a boost from same bracket if senior Emma Morrissey can advance and put some points on the board. She lost in the first round last year and didn't make it to playbacks, but the Angels were able to put up points in other positions. They could be a sleeper team to climb into title contention.

Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) junior Meghna Chowdhury comes into the tournament having lost to Ecton in last year's No. 1 singles final. She has the necessary experience to bounce back this year and claim gold. ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch) junior Veronika Bruetting fell to Chowdhury in last year's semifinal and if the two cross paths again in the championship bracket, it will be for the state title.

Cherry Creek freshman Eliza Hill won last year's No. 2 singles crown but is not playing the position this year. That gives Fairview sophomore Alexis Bernthal a shot to claim the title that eluded her in 2018.



Fellow sophomores Alyssa Kawakami (Fort Collins) and Mackenzie Wheeler (ThunderRidge) are also looking to improve their finishes from a year ago.

The same story applies to No. 3 singles as Cherry Creek freshman Nicole Hill is not playing in the position. Instead, the Bruins have senior Sayuri Garud looking to win gold there. She comes into the state tournament with a 17-0 record and could see a tough battle from Mountain Vista's  Tessa Murphy in the title match.

After winning a title in No. 2 doubles, Cherry Creek's Anna Fusaris and Halley Mackiernan have moved up to the No. 1 position and will look to get to the top of the podium there.

The No. 1 doubles bracket is full of talent as the Mountain Vista team of Ashlen Grote and Sammy Bheemireddy come in undefeated and five other duos enter with just one loss.

With Fusaris and Mackieman in No. 1 doubles, the door is open for a new champion to be crowned in No. 2 doubles.

Cherry Creek's Kaki Cantor and Miranda Kuwala come in with the top record at 17-0. Mountain Vista is sending the undefeated duo of Kayla Kim and Elizabeth Probst, while Monarch's Laura Cook and Savannah Cook also head into the tournament without a loss. Five other duos enter with just one loss.



Another undefeated team for Cherry Creek heads into the No. 3 doubles bracket and Olivia Vreeman and Vivienne Bersin look finish out a perfect season.

The Chatfield (Littleton) freshman duo of Wesley Sternberg and Kaitlyn Speer are 8-1 coming in and looking to start their careers at state off with a memorable run.

Ralston Valle's Ava Mandrell and Sara Scherff enter the No. 4 doubles bracket undefeated as does the Cherry Creek team of Dahlia Rappaport and Ella Barclay.

Class 4A

Niwot was flying high last year after ending Cheyenne Mountain's nine-year run of dominance. The Cougars and the Indians figure to battle it out once again for the team title.

Kent Denver (Englewood) is a team that can always work its way into the mix. The Sun Devils will certainly get some points in singles and can surprise some people if they can supplement the scoring numbers from the doubles brackets.



The No. 1 singles title will once again amount to a three-person race between Niwot sophomore Lucy Lu, Kent Denver senior Josie Schaffer and Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) senior Morgan Hall.

Schaffer won two titles before getting knocked off by Lu last year.

Cheyenne Mountain junior Jensen Enterman moved from doubles into the No. 2 singles spot this year and enters the tournament with a 15-2 record. She'll have to contend with Niwot's Tehnley White who made the same move.

Golden's Makenzie Middleton will also be in the No. 2 singles mix as she heads to Pueblo City Park with an 11-1 record.

Air Academy (US Air Force Academy) junior Mackie Tate Tygart had a strong regular season, racking up a 10-2 record in No. 3 singles. She advanced to the quarterfinals last year before falling to Niwot's Julia Pentz, the eventual champion.

This year it's Rachel Drake playing the position for the Cougars, but Tate Tygert's biggest challenge might be Cheyenne Mountain's, Ariana Arenson, last year's runner-up.



A veteran Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) team of Jodi Reed and Livi Matheson take an 11-1 record into the No. 1 doubles bracket. To win a state title they'll have to get through a Niwot team of Emily Creek and Catherine Xiao – both of whom have state tournament experience – and a Widefield (Colorado Springs) team of Makeeda Cato and Cheyanne Duk who enter the tournament with more wins (17) than any other team this year.

Kent Denver's Remi Peck had the unfortunate draw of getting Niwot in the first round of No. 2 doubles last year. This year, she's back in the bracket with a new partner in Lucy Pratt and the two are looking not just to get out of the first round, but to get to the podium.

Half of Niwot's championship team is back as Lily Sieben will join forces with Maedee Trank-Greene to try to win another title.

Northern Colorado is sending a couple of strong teams into No. 3 doubles as Loveland's Tara Jeffries and Lindsey Knapp won a regional title and improved to 9-1 on the year.

Niwot's No. 3 doubles freshman team of Anna Sallee and Georgia Lang come into the tournament with a 13-0 mark.

Windsor has a pair of freshmen playing in No. 4 doubles that are looking to an impact in its first year at the state tournament. Paige Shrader and Emmy Butler went 8-1 this season and are looking to be a factor in the bracket.



Class 3A

D'Evelyn (Denver) claimed the very first 3A girls tennis title back in 2017. Peak to Peak (Lafayette) came away with gold a year ago and both of those teams look to be making a run at another title this year. That doesn't mean that Holy Family should be counted out by any means.

The Tiger qualified for state in six of seven positions and are looking to do enough damage to stop someone either the Jags or Pumas from getting a second 3A title.

The No. 1 singles bracket looks like it could have a similar map as last year. Peak to Peak's Trisha Somasundaram and Steamboat Springs' Mae Thorp could be on a collision course to play for the state title yet again. Somasundaram got the 6-2, 6-2 win last year and is hoping to finish her career as a repeat champion.

The same can be said for her sister Trini Somasundaram. The twins took gold in both No. 1 and No. 2 singles and Trini also returns to Greeley in search of a second title. Something will have to give as the Colorado Springs School sends undefeated Kate Griffin into the tournament looking to win her first state title.

University (Greeley) is looking to come away with a win in No. 3 singles as senior Elizabeth Van der Torre gets to play close to home and has a 10-0 record this year. She'll have to fight off some solid competition in Vanguard's Jaden Fuqua (10-2) and Colorado Springs School's Hina Suzuki (11-1).



After falling short in the semifinals last year, D'Evelyn's Olivia Sanders is back in the No. 1 doubles race and will team up with Emily Reschl this go around. Dawson's Victoria Joris and Eloise Shehan enter the tournament at 17-2 and are feeling good about their level play heading into state.

Pueblo County seniors Mikayla DeCarlo and Atley Kleven are looking to get their hands on a No. 2 doubles title. The duo is 16-3 on the season but will have plenty of competition in the bracket, including the Aspen team of Olivia Burkley and Stef Wojcik who sit at 12-2.

Frederick's Michaela Saldi and Juliane Jenks enter the No. 3 doubles bracket at 15-3 after claiming a regional title. St. Mary's (Colorado Springs) also sends a strong No. 3 doubles team in Jillian Kellick and Lauren Sauley.

Peak to Peak's Paige Burns is looking to get past the No. 4 doubles quarterfinal this year as she and partner Millie Keogh have played well all season. They've dropped just one match and claimed a regional title en route to qualifying for state.