DENVER | A busy stretch of tennis is underway for the Regis Jesuit boys tennis team, which is fully alive in both the Class 5A state team and individual state tournaments.
The Raiders — the top seed that has advanced to the semifinals of the 5A state team tournament and will face off with Fossil Ridge on Oct. 12 — now has the 5A individual state tournament Oct. 12-14 at Denver’s City Park to look forward to with all seven lines qualified.
Sophomore Clay Dickey’s rally from a set down for a three-set win at No. 1 singles sealed a finals sweep for host Regis Jesuit in play Thursday at the Denver Tennis Park.
Dickey joined freshmen singles players Alec Rodriguez-Fields (No. 2) and Vlad Sukhovetskyy (No. 3) in the individual state tournament, along with the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Agustin Azcui and Brady Jenkins, the No. 2 tandem of juniors KC Eckenhausen and Carl Siegel, the sophomore No. 3 doubles team of Adam Rydel and Kevin Solichien and the senior No. 4 doubles duo of Tyler Ryan and Bennett Cherveny.
Regis Jesuit defeated Legacy in six of the seven regional championship matches, with the lone exception coming at No. 2 doubles where Eckenhausen and Siegel downed a team from Air Academy.
Six of the seven regional title matches also ended in straight sets, but Dickey had to pull off a significant comeback to defeat David Tran of Legacy. Down a set, Dickey survived a match point scenario and dominated a tiebreak to split sets, then took the third set for a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory to earn his second trip to state.
A loss would have opened up Dickey to a playback match against Smoky Hill’s George Robin, who won the third-place match over Bear Creek’s Keegan Kaufman.
Rodriguez-Fields dropped only two games in his two regional matches, while Sukhovetskyy didn’t yield more than two games in either of his matches.
Jenkins and Azcui — both individual state tournament qualifiers as season as singles players — continued their successful partnership with a state berth with two crisp victories, same as Eckenhausen and Siegel, Rydel and Solichien and Ryan and Cherveny.
Smoky Hill saw Robin qualify for the state tournament last season, but he finished in third place at regionals this time. Pravinh Jaine placed fourth at No. 2 singles, while all four doubles teams finished fourth for coach Jeff Davis’ Buffaloes.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A REGION 4 BOYS TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Oct. 4-5 at Denver Tennis Park
Championship matches (winner automatically advances to state)
No. 1 singles — CLAY DICKEY (REGIS JESUIT) def. David Tran (Legacy), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2; No. 2 singles — ALEC RODRIGUEZ-FIELDS (REGIS JESUIT) def. Noah Klein (Legacy), 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 singles — VLAD SUKHOVETSKYY (REGIS JESUIT) def. Rufus Thompson (Legacy), 6-2, 6-2; No. 1 doubles — AGUSTIN AZCUI/BRADY JENKINS (REGIS JESUIT) def. Khai Nguyen/Logan Livermore (Legacy), 6-0, 6-3; No. 2 doubles — KC ECKENHAUSEN/CARL SIEGEL (REGIS JESUIT) def. Oliver Haddad/Dante Ross-Johnson (Air Academy), 6-2, 6-0; No. 3 doubles — ADAM RYDEL/KEVIN SOLICHIEN (REGIS JESUIT) def. Karsen Barnes/Gregory Waggoner (Legacy), 6-3, 6-0; No. 4 doubles — TYLER RYAN/BENNETT CHERVENY (REGIS JESUIT) def. Daniel Kral/Gavin Gehring (Legacy), 6-0, 6-1
Third-place matches
No. 1 singles — GEORGE ROBIN (SMOKY HILL) def. Keegan Kaufman (Bear Creek), 6-1, 6-4; No. 2 singles — Ky Walker (Air Academy) def. PRAVINH JAINE (SMOKY HILL), 6-4, 6-1; No. 3 singles — Noah Hellem (Air Academy) def. Ashton Ballingham (Silver Creek), 6-0, 6-1; No. 1 doubles — Keegan Cornelius/Luke Brooks (Air Academy) def. DEVIN NAASTAD/KAELEN SZUMNY (SMOKY HILL), 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 doubles — Samuel Neuhalfen/Navon Kulprathipanja (Legacy) def. ITZHAK CHOI/ELI NEELY (SMOKY HILL), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; No. 3 doubles — James Streeter/Parker Lee (Air Academy) def. HENRY STANLEY/CAMARON STRAUSS (SMOKY HILL), 6-4, 6-3; No. 4 doubles — Air Academy vs. SMOKY HILL
Playback (winner advances to state)
No. 2 singles — Noah Klein (Legacy) def. Ky Walker (Air Academy), 6-4, 7-6 (5); No. 3 doubles — Karsen Barnes/Gregory Waggoner (Legacy) def. James Streeter/Parker Lee (Air Academy), 6-4, 6-4
