GREENWOOD VILLAGE | Eaglecrest sophomore Natali Marshall closed in on her goal of qualifying for the Class 5A individual girls tennis state tournament by earning her way into the 5A Region 1 championship match.
Marshall placed fourth in the same region at No. 1 singles as a freshman and will move up no matter the result of the final Thursday morning. A win would put Marshall through to the May 9-11 5A individual state tournament at City Park in Denver, while a loss would put her in position for a possible playback against the winner of the third-place match.
Coming off a bye in the opening round as the No. 2 seed, Marshall went through a lengthy match with Chatfield’s Cameron Sternberg, in which she prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The victory — Marshall’s 16th of the season, which puts her among the state leaders in 5A — moved her into the 9:30 a.m. No. 1 singles final against Cherry Creek’s Anika Sharma, who also had a bye in the first round and lost just one game in her semifinal match against Mountain Vista’s Lexi Strassner.
The winner of the championship match automatically moves into the state tournament, while the loser will play the winner of the third-place match between Sternberg and Strassner if they haven’t met in the tournament already.
Eaglecrest and Rangeview represent the Aurora area in the tournament and Marshall is the lone qualifier for the finals.
Coach Dave Palmer’s Eaglecrest team also has its No. 3 singles player (Caroline Aquino) remaining in the tournament in the third-place match against a yet-to-be-determined opponent, while the No. 4 doubles team of Fabian Acosta-Rojas and Saba Dewo is set to play for third place as well.
Coach Phil Elbein’s Rangeview team had a regional placer at No. 3 doubles as the team of Jocelyn Osorio-Lobatos and Allison Rodriguez-Morales took fourth.
Cherry Creek advanced its entire team to championship matches and won championships in No. 2 singles and Nos. 2 and 3 doubles with the rest of the finals on Thursday.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
