DENVER - At the end of a strategic chess match, want-to prevailed Tuesday morning at the Dual Team Tennis State Championships.

Two-time defending Class 5A girls team state champion Ralston Valley found Cherry Creek — which wanted its 40th all-time title and first since 2023 — employing a different playing style than usual, which created considerable tension and drama during the proceedings at the Denver Tennis Park.

Ultimately, the Mustangs solved the Bruins’ adjustment and prevailed 4-1 in a dual that saw five of the seven matches go to a decisive third set. Ralston Valley’s clinching victory came from the No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Julia Campbell and junior Olivia Hendrickson.

“There was a lot of tension, but I’m glad the girls were able to lock in and pull it out,” said head coach Jazzy Gillette, who took over the powerhouse program this season.
“Cherry Creek gave us something different this time. They normally sit back and try to strike from the baseline and this time they were trying to take pace away. They haven’t really seen something like that, so I’m glad they were able to figure it out.

“Kudos to [Cherry Creek], they put it all out there and so did we, but at the end of the day, our girls wanted it so much going into the match. I think that’s what helped us finish.”

One of only two matches of the final that didn’t go three sets turned out to be the only point secured by Cherry Creek — still far and away Colorado’s all-time leader in all-time state titles with 39 — as the No. 4 doubles team of junior Dylan Milo and freshman Riley Farber won a tidy 6-1, 6-1 decision over Ralston Valley’s Sofia Elola and Hailey Rabbitt.

Milo and Farber won the individual 5A No. 4 state title by the same score a few days earlier against a different opponent.

From there, it was a battle of attrition, as almost every other match needed three sets to decide.

Playing on her 18th birthday, senior No. 1 singles player Emerson Bonner watched sophomore Autumn Doyle blitz her way to a 6-1 victory in the opening set, but countered with a 6-1 win of her own to force a split.

After a lengthy hold by Doyle in the third set, Bonner closed it out with the serve and sealed a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory with a soft volley at the net. 

“I took it (the first set loss) as a way to reset,” said Bonner, who admitted that nerves got the better of her in the opening set.

“All I could do was control myself,” she added. “It was my last time ever playing a high school match, so I was going to give it my all.”

The win gave Bonner the distinction of contributing a point to all three Ralston Valley championship victories, as she secured one at No. 2 singles in the Mustangs’ 4-2 win in 2024 and at No. 1 singles last season in a victory by the same score.

Also earning points in all three victories was junior Mataya Farling, who was part of Ralston Valley’s No. 1 doubles team along with freshman Harlowe Lutz.

Farling and Harlowe Lutz countered Cherry Creek’s opening No. 4 doubles win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Bruins’ Karissa Manley and Elena Sepesi in a rematch of the 5A No. 1 doubles individual final also won by the Mustangs (6-2, 6-1 on that occasion).

With a win in hand, Farling (who won at No. 3 doubles in each of the two previous seasons) was able to go support her teammates vocally and try to help lift them when they needed it.

“I think an early win definitely helps shift momentum where the other girls are able to build off that moment,” Farling said. “Then I can go cheer, which is what I really want to do for this team. I’m stressed, but I want to support and cheer as much as I can and be loud so they hear all the things they are doing well.

“I try not to show how stressed I am, but sometimes I don’t do a good job.”

Bonner gave Ralston Valley a lead with her victory, then senior Scarlett Lutz — who also lost her opening set against Cherry Creek sophomore Lizzie Harbaugh — caught fire in the No. 3 singles match.

After Harbaugh took the lead with a 6-3 victory, Lutz struck back with victories of 6-2 in the second set and took the third set by the same score. It was a more dramatic win then when the two faced off in the individual final, which Lutz took 6-4, 6-1.

Lutz — who also won at No. 3 singles in the Mustangs’ first state title win and came off the court with an unfinished match last season — took pride in how her team came through in clutch situations.

“It was just belief, honestly,” she said. “We’ve been talking about it all season. Believe in each other and believe in yourself and you can go anywhere. I saw everyone split sets, but I had confidence and belief in us.”

The match still was in the balance with three matches in the third set, but Campbell and Hendrickson won the race to the clinching victory.

The Mustangs’ duo won the opening set against Cherry Creek’s Zoe Hochstadt and Ashley Geoghegan — the 5A No. 2 doubles individual state champions — 6-4, then saw the Bruins post a 6-3 victory to force a split. Long rallies late in the third set ended with good touch volleys at the net by both players and an unreturned lob sealed the match.

In the two matches that were undecided, Ralston Valley sophomore Anna Curran led Cherry Creek sophomore Madeline Hochstadt in the third set, while the Cherry Creek No. 3 doubles team of Chagajee Colburn and Anushka Laxminarayan also had a lead against Ralston Valley’s Kate Decker and Sophia Baig, who had won the matchup a few days earlier in the individual state final.

The Mustangs have created an ongoing dynasty that seems sustainable given how much the hunger remains to win.

“Obviously we know that it feels like to win and we like it,” Bonner said. “We just worked so hard and put in the effort to get us where we are now.”

Coach Andy Zurcher’s Cherry Creek team (which finished 19-1 in duals) looks built for the future as well, as only one senior — Zoe Hochstadt — played in the championship match.