Student-Athlete of the Week: Xavier Moy

There were plenty of amazing moments for the Niwot Cougars during their historic win at the 2020 state tennis championships, but one not-so-amazing moment for senior Xavier Moy and his No. 2 doubles partner turned out to be a pivotal turning point for the Cougars and put the team title firmly in their grasp.

"It was the craziest match I ever played in," Moy said of the state semi-final against Kent Denver, a team he and junior Alan Wilcox had fallen to just a few weeks before. "And it turned out to be important, too."

The Sept. 26 rematch in Pueblo started ominously for Moy and Wilcox, who dropped the first set to the Sun Devils (3-6) and then found themselves trailing badly (1-4) in the second. The day before the two had breezed through No. 2 doubles matches against Air Academy (7-6, 6-2) and Grand Junction (6-1, 6-1), but couldn't seem to find the same energy for the semi-final, and seemed destined to exit the tournament with just three points to add to the team total.

"But then we noticed that they got kind of nervous and couldn't close out the set," Moy recalled. "So we just came storming back, and we won five games straight to take the second set."

The third set went to a tie-break, and the pressure was mounting for Moy and Wilcox. Serving with a 5-4 lead, Moy faulted on the first serve.

"Then on the second serve, I served it directly in the back of my partner's head," Moy said. "It was a double-fault and the game's 5-5 now."

Wilcox wasn't hurt, and the moment of levity broke the tension for Moy. The two went on to a 7-6 victory after Moy served Niwot's next two points cleanly. That clinched the match, and the semi-final win added seven crucial points to the team standings in a year with a highly competitive title fight.

"It looked like they were going to lose, and they totally turned it around," Cougars longtime tennis coach Miikka Keronen said of the memorable match, which he called "crucial" to Niwot's eventual two-point win over Cheyenne Mountain. "It was what they deserved."

Though Moy and Wilcox fell in the No. 2 doubles finals, the senior is content with his role in the school's first-ever boys state tennis championship. A four-year member of the varsity squad, Moy and the Cougars have been close during his career, and finally capturing the elusive Class 4A title was "an amazing feeling."

"It was just really interesting to be a part of something so historic for Niwot High School," he said. "It's really just a special experience that not many people will get the chance to have."

Moy pointed to the team's "extra grit and determination to stay strong" during the modified 2020 season, as well as a few "surprises" during the state tournament, including the win at No. 3 singles by Moy's former doubles partner Luke Weber, a sophomore. Moy's fellow senior Neil Wilcox was also victorious at No. 1 singles, making the win a true "team effort" in Moy's opinion.

"Honestly, I didn't expect to win this year, and many of my teammates felt the same way," he said. "But it just came through and happened at the end and things fell into place."

It's a fitting cap to Moy's successful high school career, which saw him capture two state runner-up doubles titles, four regional and league titles, and a 35-10 regular season record. For Keronen, he has been a reliable presence and hard worker on Niwot's doubles line, and will be hard to replace next season.

"He's an amazing kid, and very academic," Keronen said. "He was never someone who said, 'Tennis is going to be my thing,' but he played a lot, and he totally exceeded my expectations during his time and in the last year."

Exceeding expectations is something Moy is familiar with. In addition to tennis, the senior is also a "passionate" drummer who has played with Niwot's exclusive jazz ensemble. Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict forced him to give it up as a senior, but he is still known to "put on some music and play along with Led Zeppelin tunes" during his free time.

In the classroom, Moy is an accomplished student who has focused on AP science and math classes, and he singled out Mr. Wittstruck for making the latter a much more palatable subject.

"He taught me more than I ever learned in my life," Moy said of Wittstruck's pre-calculus class. "Just the way he runs his class is entertaining and easy to comprehend, and that's why I feel I excel most in math."

After graduation, Moy hopes to attend the University of California-Berkeley and pursue an engineering degree, and eventually have a career that involves "designing buildings." The senior has already been accepted at the University of Denver and Colorado School of Mines, but is anxiously waiting for word from his top choice and a host of other colleges in California, where he has family ties.