AURORA | Although it didn’t change the overall outcome, two No. 1 singles heavyweights squared off during Saturday afternoon’s Class 5A team state quarterfinal match between Regis Jesuit and Grandview.
The host Raiders — the top seed in the 16-team tournament — remained undefeated in dual matches on the season with a 7-0 victory over the eighth-seeded Wolves, though the sweep was anything but easy.
Coach Laura Jones’ Regis Jesuit team had already secured passage into the Oct. 15 semifinals (where it will face No. 5 Fossil Ridge), but the last match on the court was a showdown between Raiders’ sophomore Alec Rodriguez-Fields and Wolves’ junior Justin Son that lasted three outstanding sets.
Son was the 5A individual state runner-up at No. 1 singles last season and Rodriguez-Fields finished second at No. 2 singles in the same tournament and they were both in fine form when they met as headliners of the team dual. Rodriguez-Fields (whose only two losses of the season came to Kent Denver star Nathan Gold) came away victorious, as he sandwiched 6-1 set victories around a 6-3 Son victory in the second set.
It was the cherry on top for the Raiders, who also swept No. 16 Northfield in the first round.
“It was fun to watch, there were some good matches out here and to come out on top in every single one of them means a lot,” Jones said. “I feel like the kids are very up right now and playing some of the best tennis they’ve played all year and if we keep on the same trajectory, we could bring this thing home this year.”
In the team state tournament format, every match carries the same weight, and Regis Jesuit was able to come away on top in all seven positions.
Rodriguez-Field’s victory completed a singles sweep, as Regis Jesuit freshmen twins Blake and Sebastian Wright won the battle with Grandview freshmen twins Kaahan and Krish Wani. Blake Wright downed previously unbeaten Kaahan Wani 6-2, 6-2, while Sebastian Wright eventually got past Krish Wani 6-2, 6-4.
Two doubles matches lingered late in the dual.
Regis Jesuit’s No. 2 team of senior KC Eckenhausen and junior Adam Rydel dropped a second set tiebreak with Grandview’s team of senior Atharv Peroor and freshman Nathan McIsaac, but rolled to a 6-0 victory in the third set to gain the win.
“They got a little comfortable in the second set, but they turned it around for the third set and played really good tennis,”Jones said of the No. 2 doubles victory.
The No. 1 doubles match pitted Regis Jesuit junior Clay Dickey and sophomore Vlad Sukhovetskyy against Grandview senior Blake Hardin and junior Carter Benton. All four players were in the singles lineups of their respective teams last season before they ended up in doubles this season. Sukhovetskyy (the 5A No. 3 singles state champion last season) and Dickey (who spent two seasons at No. 1 singles) topped Benton (a state qualifier at No. 3 singles last season) and Hardin (who played No. 2 singles previously) 6-2, 6-3.
First off the court was the Regis Jesuit No. 4 doubles team of seniors Aiden Prananta and Spencer Buege, who earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Grandview’s Corbin Thompson and Andres Salazar. That was followed by senior Carl Siegel and sophomore Edward Samuelson with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over sophomore Kushal Ninganola and freshman Rithvik Ninganola of the Wolves.
Despite the loss, Ryan was encouraged by what he saw from his team.
“We played Creek a couple of weeks ago and between then and playing a team of this kind of caliber, you can just see they’ve gotten better throughout the season,” he said. “I’m optimistic for what that will mean for our regional tournament. If they can play like that, my goal is to get the entire team to state, which we’ve never done at Grandview.”
Regis Jesuit is the only team to win both of its first two team state dual matches by sweeps and it will play host to Fossil Ridge, which defeated No. 7 Fairview 5-2. On the other side of the bracket are No. 2 Cherry Creek and No. 3 Valor Christian, which both advanced via 6-1 wins. The same semifinals took place last season, as the Raiders and Bruins advanced to the final, which was won by Cherry Creek 4-1.
Next up for Grandview and Regis Jesuit will be playing host to 5A individual regionals, as coach Jeff Ryan’s Grandview team will have the Region 7 tournament at home Oct. 9-10, while Regis Jesuit has the Region 2 tournament on its home court Oct. 10-11.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A BOYS TENNIS TEAM QUARTERFINAL
Oct. 5 at Regis Jesuit High School
(1) REGIS JESUIT 7, (8) GRANDVIEW 0
No. 1 singles — Alec Rodriguez-Fields (Regis Jesuit) def. Justin Son (Grandview), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; No. 2 singles — Blake Wright (Regis Jesuit) def. Kaahan Wani (Grandview), 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 singles — Sebastian Wright (Regis Jesuit) def. Krish Wani (Grandview), 6-2, 6-4; No. 1 doubles — Clay Dickey/Vlad Sukhovetskyy (Regis Jesuit) def. Blake Hardin/Carter Benton (Grandview), 6-2, 6-3; No. 2 doubles — KC Eckenhausen/Adam Rydel (Regis Jesuit) def. Atharv Peroor/Nathan McIsaac (Grandview), 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0; No. 3 doubles — Carl Siegel/Edward Samuelson (Regis Jesuit) def. Kushal Ninganola/Rithvik Ninganola (Grandview), 6-0, 6-1; No. 4 doubles — Aiden Prananta/Spencer Buege (Regis Jesuit) def. Corbin Thompson/Andres Salazar (Grandview), 6-1, 6-1
