DENVER | Mackenzy Pedrie’s birthday celebration briefly took a bad turn Friday, but ended with a lot of celebration.
The Regis Jesuit senior and her freshman partner, Francesca Belibi, trailed Chatfield 4-0 in the third set of a No. 3 doubles consolation semifinal at the Class 5A girls state tennis tournament and it looked pretty grim.
Down in confidence after letting a set lead slip away, the dynamic pair got back on track with their best tennis and launched an epic comeback, ripping off six straight games for a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory that put them in the third-place match at 9 a.m. Saturday at Gates Tennis Center.
“It’s my birthday today, so my mind is all over the place,” Pedrie said. “We had to pick up our confidence in the third set. When we got the two points that we we wanted, it was golden from there. It was incredible.”
The Regis Jesuit duo got a second chance in the playback bracket when Erinn Hogan and Lindsey Noble of Fossil Ridge — who beat them 6-3, 6-1 in Friday’s opening round — won their semifinal.
They took advantage with a tidy 6-1, 6-2 win over ThunderRidge and cruised through the first set against a Chatfield team of Rachael Reed and Lauren Cherrey that lost to Fossil Ridge’s Hogan and Noble in the semifinals.
Things went off the rails in the second set, however, as the Chargers got their serves rolling and totally turned the tables on the Raiders, who really felt the pressure when they lost a service game by Belibi for the first time.
The trend continued through the first four games of the third set, but the duo worked their way back into the match by encouraging each other with every single point. Pedrie’s steady returns and the 6-foot-2 Belibi’s confident play at the net turned the tide.
“It was pretty insane, I think there were times in the second set where our confidence was dragging and we were completely out of it,” Pedrie said. “I rely on her a lot and she relies a lot on me, so we push each other and get riled it. It finally paid off in the third set.”
In her first state tournament, Belibi felt some of the pressure of the moment — in part created by how much she cares according to Pedrie — but she picked up her play at just the right time.
“It was a really tough position to be in, down 4-love,” Belibi said. “I was pretty tight, but when we got win within 4-2 and I got my serve, I felt better.”
Indeed the Raiders gained all the momentum when Belibi held serve to make it 4-1 and they started rolling from there. They held off a game point on the ensuing game and earned two breaks to even the match at 4-4.
Belibi smoked two aces in her next service game for a 5-4 lead and the Regis Jesuit duo closed out the final game, leading to an awestruck celebration.
The Raiders advanced to play Heritage’s Olivia Woods and Libby Stroup — who they beat in straight sets in Continental League play — in the third place match.
Regis Jesuit No. 3 singles player Clare Quinn and the Grandview No. 2 doubles team of Olivia Brohl and Ila Farhang also got playbacks and won their first consolation matches before falling a win short of the third-place match.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
