It took some work but Cherry Creek captured its 28th girls state tennis championship on May 14 at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver.
The Bruins went into the final morning of playback and championship matches of the three-day tournament with a slim 73-66 lead over Fairview.
The Bruins advanced two singles and four doubles teams into the finals and four of those six title matches were against Fairview. There was a combined 12 team points available in those matches.
Cherry Creek, the defending state champions, won three of the four head-to-head matches with Fairview and wound up collecting 17 points on the final day compared to three for the Knights.
The Bruins ended with 90 points compared to 69 for runner-up Fairview. Mountain Vista came in fourth,with 80 points. Valor Christian was seventh, Heritage eighth and Regis Jesuit ninth.
“It feels wonderful to win,” said Creek coach Christin Jacob. “I’d been hearing how strong Fairview was all season. I knew if wanted the title, we’d have to work for it.
“It’s a tradition for years that has been set for our girls and that work ethic that was set is an example for our players. I’m so proud of what they did in this year especially considering how tight the doubles matches we had and the three matches we won against Fairview. Those were big points.”
Creek’s defending No. 2 singles champion Lorena Cedeno completed a 14-0 season with a 6-3, 6-1 state championship win over Fairview’s Shelia Laird.
“I was nervous at first because the match was so important for my team,”said Cedeno. “Then I was having fun and felt so blessed. This match was better than the one last year. I was more confident and playing better.”
Jiselle Boker, the Bruins No. 3 singles player, rallied in the second set and downed Fairview’s Ellie Middleton 6-3, 7-5.
“Fairview was our competition last year and this year too,” said Boker. “I played consistent. I was down 5-4 in the second set. It feels great to be a state champion. I’m excited.”
Creek’s No. 1 doubles team of Vivienne Bersin and Victoria Moldovan outlasted Fairview’s Lizzy Roth and Virginia Gomulka in the title match, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.
The Knights’ lone victory over the Bruins came in the No. 2 doubles matchup when Jane Roth and Maya Brakhage downed Creek’s Farrah Bendell and Sayeesha Garud 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Creek’s No. 3 doubles duo of Riley Loehr andSabrina Shama won a close straight set championship match and the No. 4 doubles team of Kate Erickson and Zoey Hao also claimed the state title.
Jacqueline Pearsall, Creek’s No. 1 singles player, won the third place match in three sets
“I’ve coached for 16 seasons and we’ve got 14 state titles, which is amazing to think about,” said Jacob. “This one now makes me happy because of what the new players (six) did. That’s half of my team was new and the nerves and everything they handled well.”
Combined with the 44 state titles that the Cherry Creek boys team has won, that gives the Greenwood Village school 82 state tennis championships.
Other South Metro players who finished high included Marian Hayes of Mountain Vista who was third at No. 2 singles andHeritage’s Megan Johnson who was also third in theNo. 3 singlesbracket.
Haley Zimmerman and Hannah Schumaker of Mountain Vista were fourth at No. 2 doubleswhile Valor’s Amelia Wenger and Sienna DeGhetto of Valor defeated Arapahoe’s Maddie Malcomand Kira Dyer in No. 3 doubles third place match.
