AURORA | The same two teams that met for last season’s Class 5A boys tennis team state championship will be back at it again at the same venue a year later.
Top-seeded Regis Jesuit and No. 2 Cherry Creek both took care of their respective semifinals on their home courts Tuesday afternoon, which earned them a chance to play for the top prize Oct. 22 at Denver Tennis Park.
Coach Laura Jones’ Raiders continued their perfect run through the tournament with a 7-0 victory over fifth-seeded Fossil Ridge, which came following sweeps of No. 16 Northfield in the opening round and No. 8 Grandview in the quarterfinals. Regis Jesuit downed the SaberCats — who played without regular No. 1 singles player Tyler Van Tassell, who is nursing injury — without losing a single set.
Cherry Creek defeated third-seeded Valor Christian 5-2 in its semifinal, which followed a 7-0 opening win over No. 15 Columbine and 6-1 quarterfinal win over No. 10 Arapahoe.
Sophomore Alec Rodriguez-Fields had a three-set battle with Grandview’s Justin Son in the quarterfinals and was looking at a rematch with Van Tassell, who he defeated at the Ralston Valley Full Send three weeks earlier. But junior Kevin Falcone appeared in place of Van Tassell, who aims to be ready for the 5A individual state tournament, and Rodriguez-Fields cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Rounding out the singles matches were victories for freshmen Blake and Sebastian Wright at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Sebastian Wright was last on the court and had the encouragement of the rest of his teammates as he downed the SaberCats’ Ian Miller 6-4, 6-2. Blake Wright, meanwhile, posted his third victory of the season over Cadell Webb with a 6-3, 6-1 win.
The swiftest finish in doubles play came from the No. 1 duo of junior Clay Dickey and sophomore Vlad Sukhovetskyy, who posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Fossil Ridge’s Felipe Sampaio and Davis Samuelson.
Regis Jesuit’s other three doubles teams — senior KC Eckenhausen and junior Adam Rydel at No. 2, senior Carl Siegel and sophomore Edward Samuelson at No. 3 and seniors Spencer Buege and Aiden Prananta — all had to come through with 7-5 wins in one of their sets, but finished off their opponents in straight sets.
All seven of Regis Jesuit’s lines now turn their attention to the 5A individual state tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Denver Tennis Park (full individual brackets and pairings, here).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CLASS 5A BOYS TENNIS TEAM STATE TOURNAMENT (SEMIFINALS)
Oct. 15 at Regis Jesuit High School
(1) REGIS JESUIT 7, (5) FOSSIL RIDGE 0
No. 1 singles — Alec Rodriguez-Fields (Regis Jesuit) def. Kevin Falcone (Fossil Ridge), 6-1, 6-0; No. 2 singles — Blake Wright (Regis Jesuit) def. Cadell Webb (Fossil Ridge), 6-3, 6-1; No. 3 singles — Sebastian Wright (Regis Jesuit) def. Ian Miller (Fossil Ridge), 6-4, 6-2; No. 1 doubles — Clay Dickey/Vlad Sukhovetskyy (Regis Jesuit) def. Felipe Sampaio/Davis Samuelson (Fossil Ridge), 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 doubles — KC Eckenhausen/Adam Rydel (Regis Jesuit) def. Diego Pardina/Keaton Thomas (Fossil Ridge), 6-3, 7-5; No. 3 doubles — Carl Siegel/Edward Samuelson (Regis Jesuit) def. Braxton Phillips/Vedant Manakeshwar (Fossil Ridge), 7-5, 6-0; No. 4 doubles — Aiden Prananta/Spencer Buege (Regis Jesuit) def. Zach Peterson/Zane Webb (Fossil Ridge), 6-2, 7-5