3A Girls Tennis: St. Mary’s Academy’s Ellie White Caps Prep Career With First State Title

COLORADO SPRINGS – For St. Mary’s Academy senior Ellie White, it was a long morning with her back firmly against the wall. But there was no more wall to be found by the time the hands of the clock showed 11 a.m.

After White went up 1-0 early in the first set, Colorado Academy sophomore Mira Leon came roaring back to take the set, 6-1. An April 1 pairing that saw White sweep Leon, 6-0, 6-1, seemed impossibly far removed from what was taking place on Court #5 at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs. Looking closely, you could see hints of a bewildered look in White’s eyes as she ventured courtside between points.

“It’s a lot of pressure. But, honestly, that comes with the game of tennis. You put yourself in tricky situations, and you have to find a way to dig yourself out,” admitted White.

While White has a history of not putting herself into this kind of predicament, digging out quickly became her order of the morning.

After going down 4-3 in the second set, her resilience rising to the surface began to pay dividends. In the critical eighth point of the second match, Leon took White to deuce on White’s service before White prevailed to hold serve. That point changed the complexion of the set.

From there, White broke Leon’s serve to claim the next point. All White needed to do was hold service to claim the second set to even the match. A moment of suspense emerged when White double faulted to open to next game, but she quickly righted the ship, dominated the remainder of the point, and laid claim the second set, 6-4.

The 10 minutes of break between the second and third sets appeared, at least initially, to work more into Leon’s favor than White’s. Service was broken in three of the first four games, leaving White down 3-1 in the set. By all appearances, momentum had shifted decisively to Leon’s side of the net. The wall at White’s back seemed more foreboding than ever.

White described her feelings at that critical point in the match, “For sure, there were doubts. I had my last day of my senior year yesterday. So I’m coming off an emotional high. I’m really feeling the weight of the moment. Putting it into perspective, this could be the last competitive tennis match I play; [I’m] just trying to stay present and stay in the moment.”

With Leon shifting to a more conservative approach to preserve her lead, hitting almost all of her first serves into play, White took her game in the opposite direction, “It definitely changed the dynamic. I wanted to have the mindset of ‘I have nothing to lose, and let’s just play.’ So, I played it aggressively.”

More aggressive play opens the door to some mistakes, and Leon took advantage of some of those opportunities, but the larger story of the remaining six points of the set was the story White wrote. Breaking Leon’s serve three times in those six games left White firmly on top by a score of 6-4.

This year’s individual title for Ellie White not only wrapped up a season that saw her lose only one match all season, but also provided some redemption from the disappointment that came with the 2024 season. Last spring, a knee injury cut White’s season short, and she could only dream about what might have been when the state tournament rolled around. There was no need to dream this year.

White’s championship marks the first individual state title in girls tennis for St. Mary’s Academy.

Other titles claimed on the day included Alexa Branch of Vail Christian at #2 Singles, Maya Anderson of Prospect Ridge Academy at #3 Singles, the Peak to Peak team of Parkinson and Kolachov at #1 Doubles, the Vail Christian team of Woods and Allen at #2 Doubles, the Prospect Ridge Academy team of Waggoner and Rooks at #3 Doubles, and the St. Mary’s Academy duo of Reagan-Wilson and Martinez at #4 Doubles. 
 

Results

No. 1 Singles: Ellie White (Sr., St. Mary’s Academy) def. Mira Leon (So., Colorado Academy), 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 Singles: Alexa Blanch (So., Vail Christian) def. Sydney Lewis (Sr., Peak to Peak), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Singles: Maya Anderson (Jr., Prospect Ridge Academy) def. Heidi Iverson (Jr., Vail Christian), 6-2, 6-0
No. 1 Doubles: Sydney Parkinson and Molly Kolachov (Peak to Peak) def. Anna Johnson and Strom Bearley (Colorado Academy), 6-7, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Doubles: El Allen-Bonney and Lhadze Olsen (Peak to Peak) def. Autumn Woods and Camden Allen (Vail Christian), 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 Doubles: Amelia Waggoner and Natalie Rooks (Prospect Ridge) def. Jolie Sasseville and Abby Fitzgerald (Peak to Peak), 6-1, 7-5
No. 4 Doubles: Mia Dixon and Natalie Irby (Timnath) def. Mary Kate Reagan-Wilson and Emalisa Martinez (St. Mary’s Academy), 6-1, 6-1