Girls tennis ends the season losing seven seniors

The Niwot High School girls tennis team had an eventful week competing in the Class 4A state championships. In the individual competition held May 9-11 at Pueblo City Park, four students took home third-place trophies.

Sophomore Saha Kolli placed third in No. 1 singles by defeating Megan Fields from Pueblo County, 6-0 and 6-0, in the first round and Joanna Carter from Severance in the quarterfinals, 6-1 and 6-2, before losing to Lila Moldenhauer from Kent Denver, 6-1 and 6-1, in the semifinal round. She then defeated Haylee Hussmann from Air Academy, 6-2 and 6-4, and Alyssa Sadri from Cheyenne Mountain, 6-1, 4-6 and 10-3, in the playbacks. Moldenhauer won the title.

Senior Tracy Yu also placed third in No. 2 singles by defeating Joey Smith from Grand Junction Central, 6-0 and 6-1, in the first round and Lily Mullins from Thomas Jefferson, 6-2 and 6-2, in the quarterfinals before losing to Sophie Zhou from Cheyenne Mountain, 6-1 and 6-2, in the semifinals. She then defeated Tori Strobos from Kent Denver, 6-1 and 6-4, and Claire Lenich from Mullen, 6-2 and 6-2, in the playback rounds. Zhou ended up winning the event.

Juniors Sam Zacky and Anne Haley placed third in No. 1 doubles, defeating Elle Deherrera and Harper King from Grand Junction, 6-2 and 6-4, in the first round and Francie Mueller and Kendall Wachowiak from Erie in the quarterfinal round, 7-5 and 6-0. They then lost to Kendall Adams and Samantha Brenner from Kent Denver, 6-2 and 6-2, in the semifinals before defeating Makayla Martinez and Emily Olonia from Pueblo County, 6-4 and 6-4, and Grace Brouillette and Clara Dailey from Mullen, 6-4 and 6-4, in the playbacks.

Senior Caitlyn Carmichael and junior Magnolia Valentine competed in the No. 3 doubles losing in the first round to Annabelle Carter and Shaelyn David from Grand Junction Central 6-2 and 6-3. Junior Hannah Nelson and sophomore Jordan Rutkowski competed in the No. 4 doubles, also losing in the first round to Ali Croci and Alexa Valdez from Mullen, 6-1 and 6-0.The Mullen duo finished third overall.

The team competition held on May 14 at Denver Tennis Park did not go as well with the Cougars being eliminated by Erie High School in the first round, 5-2. They were initially seeded 11th and ended in the bottom eight teams out of the 16 teams competing.

Aimee Hites has been the head coach of the team for about fifteen years and has taught physical education courses at Niwot for even longer. She said, “We are graduating a few seniors this year who will have large shoes to fill. However, we are always building for the future and have many girls who will work hard during the offseason to prepare for next year.”

Seniors on the roster this year include Harper Behmer, Sarada Gundavaparu, Tracy Yu, Michelle Martinez, Lucie Kareus, Jamie Williamson, and Caitlyn Carmichael. As a freshman last year, Kolli won the championship in No. 2 singles in the individual competition, leaving two more years of play with Niwot and many following her tennis career in future seasons.

Overall, the Cougars ended with an overall record of 7-5-1 and a 4A Region 5 League record of 6-0, placing them third in the league.