Niwot boys tennis knocked out by Kent Denver in second round of state dual tournament

While Niwot boys tennis head coach Aimee Hites believed her No. 8 seed Cougars were capable, drawing No. 1 Kent Denver in the second round of the Class 4A state dual tournament was a challenge.

Niwot (10-5, 8-0 4A Region 5) traveled to Kent Denver, a private co-ed school in Cherry Hills known for its tennis programs, on Oct. 1 for the second round of the state team tournament. After a hard-fought match ended with Niwot on the short end of a 4-3 final score, the Sun Devils moved on in the bracket. Hites was still proud of how the Cougars played in the first year of the new state postseason format, which features both a dual tournament and an individual tournament.

"They played great," Hites said. "They came together as a team, they're starting to get this whole concept of the new team championship piece of it. I do think we proved that we definitely deserved to be a higher seed than an eight."

The Cougars' three wins were courtesy of junior LiChen Liao at No. 2 singles, freshman Charlie Kirtland at No. 3 singles and freshman Oskar Hansen and sophomore Sebastian Moy in the No. 1 doubles. Niwot's No. 2 doubles team of senior Ryan Gray and junior Kyle Davidson were up 5-4 in the second set, but couldn't win the match.

On Sept. 28, Niwot welcomed No. 9 Grand Junction for the first round of the state tournament, and thanks to an exciting three-set win in No. 1 doubles, the Cougars won 4-3 overall. Niwot had swept the three singles matches, but lost all of the other doubles matches to essentially make the only remaining match, the No. 1 doubles, a winner-take-all situation.

Hansen and Moy fell behind early, but used the energy from their home crowd to sink Grand Junction, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

"It's our home court, it's our entire school cheering for us," Hansen said. "That's uplifting, that's comforting, you know? They're there if we win or lose, and mainly they're there if we win, because we only win here."

Liao, who won the No. 2 singles, 6-0,6-2, was equally grateful for the playoff support.

"I was pretty nervous, but the student section was very good today," Liao said. "They kind of lightened things up."

Senior Luke Weber won the No. 1 singles (6-2,6-1) and in his postseason debut, freshman Charlie Kirtland won 6-1, 6-2.

Following the loss to Kent Denver, the Cougars are now focused on the Class 4A Region 5 match from Oct. 6-7. Niwot, the top team in the region's standings, will host Dawson, Frederick, Longmont, Skyline, Riverdale Ridge and Mountain View with the goal of qualifying players for the individual state tournament in Pueblo Oct. 13-15.

Hites expects Dawson to be Niwot's toughest opponent in the regional match.