4A girls tennis: Cheyenne Mountain wins back-to-back team titles
DENVER — Cheyenne Mountain already faced Mullen, so the Red-Tailed Hawks knew what to expect and change after the two met at a tournament earlier in the year.
The rematch went to the Hawks, 5-2, for their second consecutive 4A title and first in the new dual team format at Denver City Park on Tuesday as part of the CHSAA Girls’ Tennis Championships.
Seniors Brooke Ballenger and Hope Lewis played to a 6-2, 7-5 tiebreaking win before being swarmed by boys’ and girls’ tennis players alike.
“To be able to win the big one feels so good,” Ballenger said of her No. 2 doubles win that sealed the team tournament win. “It was so tough, and they were a great team, so to win it for our team was amazing.”
The seniors across Cheyenne Mountain have only lost state once, and it was to Mullen two years ago when they were sophomores. The year before, there wasn’t a tournament due to COVID-19.
The Hawks didn’t forget though and even worried they may be too fired up for the rematch.
“It was almost scary how zoned in we were for this, all the way up here,” senior Hannah Koury said. “We wanted it so bad. The seniors wanted to go out on top, and all of our freshmen wanted to get their first taste.”
No. 2 and No. 3 singles went to Cheyenne Mountain’s first-year standouts. Throughout her round, No. 2 singles Alyssa Sadri was fidgeting with the spokes in her racket, working around a rotator cuff injury at the same time.
The team itself dealt with similar adversity to Sadri. Before the year, two of its top players chose to forego the high school season for club tennis, which, in part, led to the team’s reliance on freshmen.
All of the challenges are what allowed the group to mature faster.
“It can be really hard your first year, but we had a great team around us,” Sadri said. “The captains and seniors helped us get here, and helped us not be too worried about today and Saturday in Pueblo.”
All three singles spots on the title team are freshmen. Another is part of the No. 1 doubles tandem that won. Seven of the team’s 11 participants in Tuesday’s win will be back next year.
The inexperience hurt early, but the youngsters caught up. Now, it’s the rest of the state who has to worry about them in future years, because year one was already a success.
