An abundance of high-level tennis was played in Aurora during the 2023 boys tennis season and Regis Jesuit was in the thick of it all.
The Raiders — who made the Class 5A team state championship match and qualified all seven lines for the 5A individual state tournament — make up the lion’s share of the 2023 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Boys Tennis Team, which is based primarily on state results.
Rounding out the city’s best is Grandview sophomore Justin Son, who gave the Wolves a finalist at No. 1 singles for a second year in a row.
Regis Jesuit lost in the semifinals of last season’s 5A state team tournament, but coach Laura Jones got an influx of young talent in the singles ranks that strengthened the lineup as a whole. That allowed for a lot of experience in the doubles ranks and it led to a season in which the Raiders won every single dual match they played until the last one against rival Cherry Creek.
A regular season match between the powerhouse programs went to Regis Jesuit by 5-2 decision, but Cherry Creek prevailed 4-1 — in a match that ended when the fourth point was secured with two other matches on court at the Denver Tennis Park — when they met to close out the season.
Regis Jesuit’s singles strength came from the addition of freshmen Alec Rodriguez-Fields and Vlad Led by Class 5A individual No. 3 singles state champion Vlad Sukhovetskyy, Regis Jesuit makes up nearly the entire 2023 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Boys Tennis Team, which also features Grandview ace Justin Son.
Both freshmen — who fit in the Nos. 2 (Rodriguez-Fields) and 3 (Sukhovetskyy) singles spots behind behind sophomore Clay Dickey — earned their way into the state championship matches individually and it was Sukhovetskyy who prevailed to win what turned out to be Regis Jesuit’s only state title.
Playing on an even keel that saw him lose just one match during the regular season, Sukhovetskyy posted four quality wins at the state tournament, capped by a 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Valor Christian’s Nathaniel Trevey in the final.
In the state team tournament, he won his matches in the first three victories and had battled back from a set deficit to keep his team alive in the state championship match before his match with Cherry Creek’s Trevor Robinson ended before it was over when the Bruins secured the final point.
Sukhovetskyy’s only loss in a 27-1 season came in an abbreviated third set to Fossil Ridge’s Alex Van Thuyne in a tournament and he avenged that with a three-set victory over Van Thuyne in team state semifinals.
Rodriguez-Fields earned what turned out to be Regis Jesuit’s only point in the team championship match when he cruised past Cherry Creek’s Jack Loehr 6-1, 6-3 to get his team on the board first.
It was a decisive bounceback from his loss a few days earlier in the 5A individual state championship match in which Valor Christian’s Jake Nakamura finished on top with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. It was the lone defeat in a 21-1 debut season for Rodriguez-Fields.
The singles strength pushed seniors Agustin Azcui and Brady Jenkins, who played in the Nos. 2 and 3 singles spots last season, down into doubles, where they teamed in the No. 1 spot. It was a near-perfect pairing, as the duo won every match they played except for their last two against Cherry Creek’s Kris Kostadinov and Matthew Hu.
Azcui and Jenkins won the first meeting in the regular season, but fell 6-3, 6-4 in the 5A individual state final and then again in three sets in the team final in the match that brought it to an end.
The No. 2 team of juniors KC Eckenhausen and Carl Siegel as well as the No. 3 team of sophomores Adam Rydel and Kevin Solichien both had outstanding seasons that saw a lot of winning. Both made it to the individual state championship matches before falling — the No. 2 team in three sets — and both were defeated in the team championship match as well. The No. 4 duo of seniors Bennett Cherveny and Tyler Ryan placed third in the individual state tournament.
Son’s game was undoubtedly improved by practicing regularly with Eduard Tsaturyan last season (in which Tsaturyan became Grandview’s first 5A state champion) and he nearly replicated the feat. Son lost his second match of the season, then not again until Broomfield’s Kai Trujillo defeated him 6-3, 6-2 for the state crown.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 AURORA SENTINEL ALL-AURORA BOYS TENNIS TEAM
First team
No. 1 singles — Justin Son, soph., Grandview; No. 2 singles — Alec Rodriguez-Fields, fr., Regis Jesuit; No. 3 singles — Vlad Sukhovetskyy, fr., Regis Jesuit*; No. 1 doubles — Agustin Azcui, sr. and Brady Jenkins, sr., Regis Jesuit; No. 2 doubles — KC Eckenhausen, jr. and Carl Siegel, jr., Regis Jesuit; No. 3 doubles — Adam Rydel, soph. and Kevin Solichien, soph., Regis Jesuit; No. 4 doubles — Bennett Cherveny, sr. and Tyler Ryan, sr., Regis Jesuit
Honorable mention: Singles — Swagat Behara, soph., Cherokee Trail (No. 2); Carter Benton, soph., Grandview (No. 3); Clay Dickey, soph., Regis Jesuit (No. 1); Doubles — Zachary Monforton/Aditya Fernandez, Cherokee Trail (No. 1); Edward Tay/Ryan Martin (Cherokee Trail)
* — State champion
