Niwot boys tennis off to strong start

By most standards, Niwot Boys Tennis is off to a strong start, but when you are used to competing at the top levels of the sport, sometimes it’s hard to keep it in perspective. The Niwot Cougars are off to a 4-2 start, and 4-0 in league play.

“It’s been a little rough,” according to Head Coach Aimee Hites, who was speaking of recent losses to Colorado Academy and Cheyenne Mountain. The Cougars lost both matches by a score of 4-3, to two of Colorado’s top prep tennis programs at any level.

“We were up 3-0 against Cheyenne Mountain,” Hites said, “but we lost all of our singles matches and our 2-doubles lost in a tiebreaker.” She also noted that a couple of singles players were sick in the match against Cheyenne Mountain, but played through the match anyway.

The Cougars won all of their matches in a recent tournament, Hites said. “In the tournament, we did really well. We beat Severance 6-1, and Mountain View 7-0.” No. 1 singles player LiChen Liao was absent for the Severance match, and the only loss came at No. 1 singles, with Oskar Hansen filling in for Liao.

After heated competition for varsity positions, Hites has settled in on Liao at No. 1 singles, Hansen at No. 2 singles, and Charlie Kirtland at No. 3 singles. At doubles, Sebastian Moy and Kyle Davidson are settled at the No. 1 slot, with Rex Wallington and Ollie Jones holding down the No. 2 doubles position.

At No. 3 doubles, Lauritz Stranzenbach and Manan Gangwar are the varsity duo, while at No. 4 doubles, Gabe Bandera and Tyler Chivakula finish out the bracket.

Hites and her squad never shy away from tough competition, and she is not discouraged by the two losses. “We’ve got strong singles players,” Hites said. “We just had some tough matches.”