Vail Christian girls tennis sweeps regional tournament for fourth-straight year
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The Vail Christian tennis team qualified its entire lineup to the Colorado 3A individual state tournament for the fourth-straight season.
The top-2 finishers at the 3A Region 8 meet, held at Canyon View Park in Grand Junction May 1-2, qualified for the individual state tournament later this week. The Saints swept the No. 1, 2 and 3 singles and were victorious at No. 2 and 3 doubles as well. They also placed second in No. 1 and 4 doubles.
“We feel very blessed to win regionals and have a chance to compete for another state championship,” said head coach J.D. Webster, who led the Saints to a runner-up finish in the state team tournament last spring. The Saints defeated Dawson School in the first round of the team tournament last month but were bounced 4-3 by No. 4 Holy Family in the second round.
“We’ve battled through the injuries and extreme weather conditions,” added assistant coach Kirsten Webster. “We are so proud of the girls for stepping up in this moment.”
No. 1 singles Jessie Allen showed why she was the number 1 seed coming into the regional. The senior easily dispatched Basalt’s Emma Garrigus 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and took down Delta’s Chloe Sharp 6-1, 6-1 in the second. In the final, she punched her fourth-straight state tournament ticket with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Glenwood Springs Amanda Madden.
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“It is amazing how all of our lines made it to state and it will be awesome to see most of them go very far,” Allen said.
Last spring, Vail Christian walked away from the individual state tournament with three second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. Allen was ousted in the No. 1 singles playback semifinals while Alexa Blanch and Sabrina Nabonsal finished second in the No. 2 doubles. This year, Blanch will enter the state tournament as the region champion in No. 2 singles while Nabonsal is paired with Olivia Zajac in No. 1 doubles. Zajac and Nabonsal made it to the finals at regionals last week but fell to Steamboat Springs’ Lyla Baker and Leslie Jimenez 6-2, 6-3.
(Vail Christian athletes in bold)
- No. 1 singles: Jessie Allen def. Amanda Madden (Glenwood Springs) 6-4, 6-0
- No. 2 singles: Alexa Blanch def. Abby Del Haya (Steamboat Springs) 6-0, 6-0
- No. 3 singles: Heidi Iverson def. Olivia Mandelblatt (Aspen) 6-1, 6-1
- No. 1 doubles: Lyla Baker/Leslie Jimenez (Steamboat Springs) def. Olivia Zajac/Sabrina Nabonsal 6-2, 6-3
- No. 2 doubles: Autumn Woods/Camden Allen def. Taylor Rockford/Vanessa Dorr (Steamboat Springs) 6-1, 6-1
- No. 3 doubles: Ella Pecinka/Paige Asbury def. Anna Dangler/Quintessa Frisch (Aspen) 6-1, 6-1
- No. 4 doubles: Grace Gallagher/Luna Murray def. Chloe Demmler/Annabelle 6-3, 6-2
The three-day state tournament begins on May 8 at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs at 9 a.m. More information and a complete bracket can be found at CHSAANow.com.
