3A Girls Tennis: No. 4 Doubles Clinches First-Ever State Title for Colorado Academy

DENVER – Tuesday’s Class 3A girls tennis team championships marked an historic moment for the Colorado Academy girls tennis program.

At Denver Tennis Park, the Mustangs won 4-3 over Vail Christian to claim its first-ever team title in a state tournament final that featured a pair of teams vying for the program’s first-ever state championship.

“This is only my first year as head coach of the girls,” Mustangs head coach Noah Tondre said. “I was here last fall with the boys, so I’ve been here before. It means a ton and I don’t think it’ll sink in until Thursday at our banquet. But these girls are tough, really tough.

“They finally started believing in themselves and we progressed the entire season. I’m super proud and we kept the goal in mind of the endpoint all the way until states and up to when we took down D’Evelyn, the one seed, in the semifinals. It culminated and we peaked at the right time.”

At No. 1 singles, Colorado Academy’s Mira Leon won 6-1, 6-4 over Vail Christian’s Jessie Allen. In the No. 2 singles finals, Vail Christian’s Juliet Studness defeated Colorado Academy’s Avia Lauchli, 6-1, 6-1. At No. 3 singles, Vail Christian’s Heidi Iverson won 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 over Colorado Academy’s Aliza Kirkpatrick.

Colorado Academy’s No. 1 doubles pair of Ava Johnson and Violet Tetzeli won 6-3, 6-3 against Vail Christian’s Summer Sveum and Sofia Elalayi. In the No. 2 doubles match, Colorado Academy’s Storm Bearley and Josie Hicks won 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 against Vail Christian’s Alexa Blanch and Sabrina Nabonsal. At No. 3 doubles, Vail Christian’s Carys Highum and Olivia Zajac won 7-5, 6-3 over Colorado Academy’s Abby Cohen and Elise Yang.

Colorado Academy’s No. 4 doubles pair of Emily Archie and Bea Wadsworth beat Vail Christian’s Linnea Iverson and Grace Armstrong, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 to clinch the victory.

“Four doubles is tough because you just never know the matchups,” Tondre said. “It was a power team versus a finesse team and our girls are just grittier, I guess. They’re tough.”

D’Evelyn has the most 3A team titles all-time, having won four of the seven contested championships since the 3A classification was added in 2017. D’Evelyn had won the last three straight team titles before this season.