DENVER | Finally in the proper place, Overland ended up with a regional champion Thursday.
Originally misplaced in the regional field, the Trailblazers competed where they belonged — the Class 5A Region 7 tournament at Colorado Athletic Club Monaco hosted by Regis Jesuit — and saw freshman Draden Hoover break a five-year state qualifying drought.
The precocious Hoover, who has been in the lineup for just a few weeks after recovering from a significant shoulder injury, won the No. 1 singles crown with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Boulder’s Jackson Hawk to earn Overland’s first berth at state since 2008, when Roman Khmelev also qualified at No. 1 singles.
Hoover is the youngest regional champion Overland has ever had according to veteran coaches Arlandus Lowe and Woodie Smith. He’ll take a top seed into the 5A state tournament Oct. 10-12 at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver.
“It’s amazing being a freshman and winning my region,” Hoover said. “To be be in the company of kids like Roman….he’s an amazing player and to be mentioned by his name is amazing.”
Though Overland didn’t play Boulder during the season, Hoover became friends with Hawk after the two trained together a few summers ago at the Harvest House in Boulder. He played with composure, executed the game plan he got from coaches Lowe and Smith and made the right shots in the critical junctures of both sets of the championship match.
“Me and Jackson are good friends and it’s hard to play your friend in the final, you get nervous and stuff,” Hoover said. “My coaches told me to play solid to his backhand and don’t play short balls to his forehand. Just try to be aggressive when you can and dictate on short balls. It worked out pretty well.”
Lowe has been more than impressed with what he’s seen from his freshman, who he’s known about for several years.
“We’ve watched Draden for a long time just knowing he was around, but we didn’t know how he was going to develop; we’re pleased with how he has developed so far,” Lowe said with a wry smile.
The other story of the tournament was the performance of Regis Jesuit, which went an impressive 6-0 in championship matches — all against opponents from Boulder — and qualified all but its No. 1 singles player for state. Coach Laura Jones’ Raiders racked up 79 points to handily win the regional title over the Panthers, who had 56.
Jones said she couldn’t have dreamed that her Raiders would win all the championship matches, but they came through in the clutch, winning all four matches that went three sets.
“To come out and win all six of those positions is incredible, especially against a really strong team like Boulder,” Jones said. “I feel fortunate and blessed to have kids that are such good fighters and such strong young men. I’m really proud.”
Of the victories, one of the most satisfying was that of sophomore Chanon Penvari at No. 2 singles. Penvari lost to Boulder’s Cutter Esson earlier in the season at the Cherry Creek Invitational and found himself on the ropes in the rematch at regionals after dropping the first set 6-1.
But Penvari — who placed fourth at No. 2 singles at last season’s state tournament — finally cut loose in the second set, ratcheting up his aggressiveness and limiting the easy scoring chances he’d given Esson in the first set. The result was a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
“I lost to him last time, so it was big to win this time,” Penvari said. “I changed things, was more relaxed and didn’t think about losing or winning. Just played tennis.”
Freshman Erich Nuss at No. 3 singles earned his first state trip in tidy fashion, with a 6-2, 5-0 victory in the finals over Boulder’s Connor Dawson, who withdrew late in the second set due to injury.
Regis Jesuit’s No. 1 doubles team of seniors Nate Root and Timmy D’Costa overcame a second-set letdown for a second straight match to post a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over the Boulder duo of Ethan Anderson and Arie van Buuren.
The Raiders and Panthers went three sets in three of the four doubles finals, with the exception being the 6-4, 7-5 victory of Alec Jotte and Luca Abbott over Dan Cleveland and Jackson Feld. Even that one had some drama, however, as Jotte and Abbott had to rally from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to close it out.
In the other three-set victories, Regis Jesuit’s Joey Robertson and Tommy Koszowski gritted their way past Boulder’s Scott Neville and Cole Smith 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 and the Raiders’ Steven Bummer and Truett Davis held off the Panthers’ Aiden Mulligan and Kelby Woodward 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Senior David Arzumanyan, took over the No. 1 singles spot for Regis Jesuit this season, claimed third place with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Rocky Mountain’s Isaac Smith. Arzumanyan lost a chance at a playback when Hawk lost to Hoover in the championship match.
Notes: Junior Enzo Abbott, who was expected to play No. 1 singles this season for Regis Jesuit, watched the tournament with his right shoulder in a sling. Abbott suffered an injury that previously wasn’t thought to require surgery, but he had to go under the knife three weeks ago. With another three weeks in a sling and a total recovery time of 4-6 months, Abbott expects he can play again by January or February. He could man the No. 1 spot again for Regis Jesuit next season.
CLASS 5A REGION 7 BOYS TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Oct. 3 At Colorado Athletic Club Monaco
Team scores: 1. REGIS JESUIT 79 points; 2. Boulder 56, 3. Littleton 39, 4. Rocky Mountain 22, 5. OVERLAND 17, 6. Douglas County 1, 7. Thornton 0
Championship matches
No. 1 singles: Draden Hoover (Overland) def. Jackson Hawk (Boulder), 6-4, 6-3; No. 2 singles: Chanon Penvari (Regis Jesuit) def. Cutter Esson (Boulder), 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; No. 3 singles: Erich Nuss (Regis Jesuit) def. Connor Dawson (Boulder), 6-2, 5-0 (inj. default); No. 1 doubles: Timmy D’Costa/Nate Root (Regis Jesuit) def. Ethan Anderson/Arie van Buuren (Boulder), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; No. 2 doubles: Joey Robertson/Tommy Koszowski (Regis Jesuit) def. Scott Neville/Cole Smith (Boulder), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; No. 3 doubles: Steven Bummer/Truett Davis (Regis Jesuit) def. Aiden Mulligan/Kelby Woodward (Boulder), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; No. 4 doubles: Alec Jotte/Luca Abbott (Regis Jesuit) def. Dan Cleveland/Jackson Feld (Boulder), 6-4, 7-5
Third-place matches
No. 1 singles: David Arzumanyan (Regis Jesuit) def. Isaac Smith (Rocky Mountain), 6-3, 6-2; No. 2 singles: Nathan Schultz (Littleton) def. Jason Krebec (Rocky Mountain), 7-5, 6-4; No. 3 singles: Carver Payne (Littleton) def. Jason McCrary (Rocky Mountain), 6-4, 6-0; No. 1 doubles: Cullen MacDowell/Jake Anderson (Littleton) def. Alex Dressen/Neville Hyllegard (Rocky Mountain), 6-2, 6-1; No. 2 doubles: Hugo Ogilvie/Grant Testa (Littleton) def. Keegan Rowan/Eric Ortolano (Rocky Mountain), 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 doubles: Seth Goldstien/Larkin Burbage (Littleton) def. Quentin Strother/Derek Holland (Rocky Mountain), 6-3, 6-4; No. 4 doubles: Thinh Dinh/Nathan Stauffer (Littleton) def. Wilson/Tan (Douglas County), 7-5, 6-3