Niwot boys tennis falls to Cheyenne Mountain in mid-season test

In about one month's time, the Niwot boys tennis team will be squaring off against Colorado's top talent in the state championships. Head coach Aimee Hites' Cougars got a taste of that level of play on Sept. 8 when defending Class 4A co-champions Cheyenne Mountain visited campus.

Disappointment soon arose, though, as Niwot, which placed third in state last year, mustered little success in a 5-2 loss to the Red-Tailed Hawks. Senior Luke Weber won the No. 1 singles match (6-1, 6-2) and junior LiChen Liao secured the No. 2 singles (7-5, 6-4) for the only match wins.

However, the afternoon could have just as easily ended in a 4-3 Niwot win because due to a lightning delay, the No. 3 singles and the No. 1 doubles matches were forced into a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set. Freshman Charlie Kirtland ended up falling 10-7 in the No. 3 singles finale and the duo of freshman Oskar Hansen and sophomore Sebastion Moy pushed Cheyenne Mountain to the limit, 11-9.

Hites' message to her now 6-2 team was that a more important match against the Red-Tailed Hawks is still likely ahead.

"I said, 'We lost the battle, but we're going to win the war,' because we'll get to play them hopefully in the new state playoff system when the team championships start," Hites said. "I said, 'That's fine, it's hard to beat a team twice, especially when you're as close as we are with them on paper.' I said, 'Let's go win the war and give them the battle, see what happens.'"

Hites added that hosting the 1-4 Severance Silver Knights on the day prior made it difficult for Niwot to be at its best against Cheyenne Mountain.

In the Cougars' 7-0 win over Severance, Weber, Liao, Kirtland, Hansen and Moy all took care of business playing in their aforementioned matches. The other doubles matches were won by a majority of varsity/junior varsity swing players: sophomores Ollie Jones and Tyler Chivukula (No. 2 doubles), junior Manan Gangwar and senior Gabriel Martinez (No. 3 doubles) and freshman Jack Peterson and junior Harrison Leonard (No. 4 doubles).

Peterson has impressed so far during his rookie season and could be a candidate for a full-time varsity position next season.

"He's on the cusp," Hites said. "I think next year he'll crack into that lineup, especially because he's only a freshman, if he keeps working hard."

The Cougars played another one of the state's top teams, Mullen, on Sept. 12. Niwot then visits Thompson Valley on Sept. 13 and hosts Colorado Academy on Sept. 15, all before playing in the Sun Devil Invitational at Kent Denver High School in Denver on Sept. 17.

"I think we're headed in the right direction," Hites said. "We're hopefully going to peak at the right time, we're getting there. We just have got to iron out some stuff and get the boys with the right mindset, and (then) be good to go."