Cheyenne Mountain girls tennis seizes control on Day 1 of 4A tournament

PUEBLO – Winning Class 4A girls state tennis championships is not a goal for the Cheyenne Mountain High School team. It’s an expectation.

The Indians have captured 19 state girls tennis crowns in school history and six in a row.

Cheyenne Mountain took a big step toward claiming title No. 20 on Monday at the City Park Tennis Complex.

The Indians qualified players in all seven brackets – No. 1 singles through No. 4 doubles – and they all advanced into today’s semifinals.

Peyton Fielding (No. 1 singles), Daniel Adamczyk (No. 2 singles), Jessica Metz (No. 3 singles) and Casey Ahrendsen and Ally Arenson (No. 1 doubles), Tory Louis and Claire Dibble (No. 2 doubles), Megan Dibble and Chelsey Geisz (No. 3 doubles) and Tatumn Mika and Rachel Perry ( No. 4 doubles) all won two matches each to move into the semis which get underway at 9 a.m.

“Our approach is just one match at a time,” veteran Cheyenne Mountain coach Dave Adams said. “If you start looking down the road, especially in tennis, that’s when you’re ripe for an upset. We are just focused on the next match and everybody just has to take care of their own business (Tuesday). If we can do that, as a team we will be sitting in a very dominant position.”

Cheyenne Mountain leads the team standings with 21 points followed by Kent Denver at 11 points.

The key victory for the Indians was delivered by Fielding, a senior, in the quarterfinals. Trailing Kent Denver’s Sadie Moseley 5-2 in the first set and 3-0 in the second, the senior rallied for a 7-5, 6-3 win. Moseley, a sophomore, beat Fielding in straight sets in their only meeting at the Cherry Creek tournament earlier this season.

“In the beginning of the match my nerves got a hold of me and my emotions were a little crazy,” the 6-foot-1 Fielding said. “When I was down 5-2 in the first set something finally clicked in my head. I told myself this is my last state tournament and the match isn’t over, I could come back.

“She is really good at the mental part of tennis, but I finally calmed down and I was able to relax and play. The second set I got distracted and was down 3-0 and then I started playing my game and got a lot more consistent.”

Fielding clashes with Steamboat Springs freshman Tatum Burger in the semifinals.

“I just need to go into the match not worried about what happened (Monday) and how I’ve won in the past,” Fielding said. “I just need to get all this pressure out of my mind and treat it one point at a time.”

Fielding is no stranger to the state tourney as she garnered championships at No. 2 singles as a freshman and sophomore. She didn’t play prep tennis a year ago as she was an exchange student in Brittany, France.

When Fielding returned for her senior year, she took the No. 1 singles spot vacated by two-time state champion Kalyssa Hall. Hall, a junior, transferred to Cherry Creek this fall.

“It has been a lot of pressure, coming back and being at No. 1 singles,” Fielding said. “There are a lot of eyes on me and I want to live up to last year because Kalyssa won. I also just want to help the team because we are all in this together and we all are doing well and hopefully we can keep this momentum going.”

Adams praised the play of Fielding against Moseley.

“When we saw the draw we knew that was going to be a giant match,” Adams said. “Kent is very strong in all of their singles and for us to (beat them there) is very helpful for us. Payton really stepped up when she was down.”

Adams also pointed out the performance of Adamczyk, who beat Air Academy’s Ashley Burnett for the third time in a row this season.

“Trying to beat a quality opponent three times in one season, especially three times in a row is very difficult to do,” Adams said. “She did a great job and fought through unsteady play and came up with a big win for us.”