'Stangs in 4A position
Manwiller, Yost head five Mullen entries in the 7 singles and doubles positions; Mustangs lead team field by a point; semifinals will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
After day 1 of the Colorado Class 4A girls tennis tournament at Pueblo City Park, Mullen heads the team chase and is alive at five of the seven spots.
The Mustangs are in the top two singles brackets as well as three of the four in doubles.
“I’m so happy,” head coach Jera Strurgell said after Friday’s first two rounds were completed, “The girls have played so well.”
With no playbacks, elimination play has Mullen at the top of the team chase with 16 points. Cheyenne Mountain (15), Kent Denver (13), Niwot (12), Palmer Ridge (11) and Loveland (10), all recognized programs, are within range.
Individually, Mullen’s Lauren Manwiller and Alexia Yost are legitimate threats for additional, high-end points.
Manwiller, a senior headed to Loyola-Maryland, is in her third state field (there were no championships a year ago) and second set of semifinals at No. 1 singles. As a sophomore, she finished fourth. On Friday, she opened with a 6-3, 6-0 decision of Coronado’s Scarlet Leifer and a Round 2 victory over Kent Denver’s Annie Manassee by 6-1, 6-1.
Niwot’s Alys Pop awaits Manwiller, who has lost only once in 2021, in the semifinals.
At No. 2, Yost, too, cruised in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1 over Pueblo West’s Jaea Sanchez and 6-3, 6-1 past Emmalee Dekkers of Thompson Valley.
Mustangs No. 3 singles Marin Smith, a junior, lost a close one in the preliminaries, 7-6, 6-4.
In Mustangs doubles, the No. 2 team of Tierney Scanlan-Izzy Desjardins survived a three-setter in the quarterfinals; the No. 3 duo of Madeline Crites-Aubryanne Leugers won twice in straight sets; and the No. 4 group of Renee Hoyt-Clara Dailey breezed in the first set before surviving in a very tight 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 decision of a Kent Denver team.
At No. 1 doubles, Brooklyn Hanley-Parker Durand opened with a tough 7-5, 7-5 victory before going out in the second round by 6-3, 6-2.
Semifinals are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday with the championship matches slated thereafter.
CLASS 4A COLORADO TOURNAMENT
At Pueblo City Park
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
PRELIMINARIES
TEAMS – Mullen 16, Cheyenne Mountain 15, Kent Denver 13, Niwot 12, Palmer Ridge 11, Loveland 10, Grand Junction 9, Silver Creek and Windsor 5, Dakota Ridge 4, Lewis-Palmer and Thompson Valley 3, Denver South 2, Coronado, Central (G.J.), Pueblo West and George Washington 1.
No. 1 singles – Lauren Manwiller, Mullen def. Scarlet Leifer, Coronado 6-3, 6-0.
No. 2 singles – Alexia Yost, Mullen dec. Jaea Sanchez, Pueblo West 6-0, 6-1.
No. 3 singles – Dasha Mulholland, Thompson Valley def. Marin Smith, Mullen 7-6, 6-4.
No. 1 doubles – Brooklyn Hanley-Parker Durand, Mullen def. Audriana Sauceda-Ambrea Pena, Pueblo Central 7-5, 7-5.
No. 2 doubles – Tierney Scanlan-Izzy Desjardins, Mullen def. Stephanie Zabel-Juliana Wilson, Thomas Jefferson 6-0, 6-1.
No. 3 doubles – Madeline Crites-Aubryanne Leugers, Mullen def. Zoey Shutes-Lilah Ruiz, Longmont 6-1, 6-0.
No. 4 doubles – Renee Hoyt-Clara Dailey, Mullen def. Gracie Jennings-Annika Olson, Longmont 6-2, 6-1.
QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 singles – Lauren Manwiller, Mullen def. Annie Manassee, Kent Denver, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 2 singles – Lexi Yost, Mullen def. Emalee Dekkers, Thompson Valley 6-3, 6-1.
No. 1 doubles – Kylie Hanks-Natalie Hanks, Grand Junction def. Brooklyn Hanley-Parker Durand, Mullen 6-3, 6-2.
No. 2 doubles – Tierney Scanlan-Izzy Desjardins, Mullen def. Emma Delich-Katie Delich, Cheyenne Mountain 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
No. 3 doubles – Madeline Crites-Aubryanne Leugers, Mullen def. Violet Letendre-Ava Eiteljorg, Denver South 7-6, 6-3.
No. 4 doubles – Renee Hoyt-Clara Dailey, Mullen def. Sasha Berry-Kendall Kozlowski, Kent Denver 7-5, 2-6, 7-6.
SEMIFINALS
No. 1 singles – Lauren Manwiller, Mullen vs. Alys Pop, Niwot.
No. 2 singles – Lexi Yost, Mullen vs. Anna Sallee, Niwot.
No. 2 doubles – Tierney Scanlan-Izzy Desjardins, Mullen vs. Ellie Flinn-Chloe Hart, Lewis-Palmer.
No. 3 doubles – Madeline Crites-Aubryanne Leugers, Mullen vs. Chelsea Young-Kaya Kimmey, Palmer Ridge.
No. 4 doubles – Renee Hoyt-Clara Dailey, Mullen vs. Hail Hill-Rebecca Harris, Dakota Ridge.
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