AURORA | Even with big turnover from last season, the Regis Jesuit girls tennis team is again headed to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A girls team state tennis tournament.
Minus six seniors from last season’s team — and a group that included four freshmen playing postseason tennis for the first time — coach Jenn Armstrong’s Raiders made it to the final eight teams with a 5-2 home win over Legacy Wednesday afternoon.
Eighth-seeded Regis Jesuit earned a doubles sweep to assure itself of victory and got a three-set win from senior No. 3 singles player Helen Adams to cap off the victory over the ninth-seeded Lightning, who flexed their power at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
The Raiders will head on the road for Friday’s quarterfinals and will play top-seeded Ralston Valley at 3:30 p.m. at the APEX Tennis Center. The defending 5A team champion Mustangs swept past No. 16 Boulder in the opening round.
Visiting Legacy boasted an outstanding singles group led by freshman Lynnsey Lu at No. 1, junior Kat Tran at No. 2 and senior Macy Black at No. 3, as all three had 14 or more victories on the season. Lu extended her undefeated season with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Regis Jesuit sophomore Madeline Dickey, while Tran got past Raiders’ senior Otylia Martino Wojciechowski 6-1, 6-4.
Adams earned a split with Black and prevailed 10-5 in a third-set tiebreaker to make sure the Raiders got a singles point, which was a cherry on top of the victory.
That was thanks to straight sets victories for all four Regis Jesuit doubles teams, the first of which went to freshman Lucita Lewis and junior Cailyn Vu, who took a 6-0, 6-2 victory. The No. 1 doubles team of junior Abigail Puschaver and freshman Samantha Garcia Lucero followed suit with a 6-3, 6-1 win, which was followed by a 6-0, 6-4 victory for the No. 2 duo of sophomore Rachel Osborn and freshman Alegra Warnaars.
A 6-4, 6-1 triumph by the No. 3 tandem of junior Brooke Griggy and freshman Samantha Groen gave the Raiders all the points they needed to advance.
The opening round included a pair of upsets, as No. 12 Mountain Vista took out No. 5 Fairview (4-3), while No. 10 Denver South took out No. 7 Fossil Ridge 5-2. The top four seeds — No. 1 Ralston Valley, No. 2 Cherry Creek, No. 3 Valor Christian and No. 4 Rock Canyon — remain alive.
Quarterfinal winners continue on to the semifinals May 5, while the state championship is decided May 12 at the Denver Tennis Park.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 5A GIRLS TEAM STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
First round, April 22 at Regis Jesuit H.S.
(8) Regis Jesuit 5, (9) Legacy 2
No. 1 singles — Lynnsey Lu (Legacy) def. Madeline Dickey (Regis Jesuit), 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 singles — Kat Tran (Legacy) def. Otylia Martino Wojciechowski (Regis Jesuit), 6-1, 6-4; No. 3 singles — Helen Adams (Regis Jesuit) def. Macy Black (Legacy), 1-6, 6-3, 10-5; No. 1 doubles — Samantha Garcia Lucero/Abigail Puschaver (Regis Jesuit) def. Claire Tsai/Maddy Gorrell (Legacy), 6-3, 6-1; No. 2 doubles — Rachel Osborn/Alegra Warnaars (Regis Jesuit) def. Kate Harris/Deeptika Pallapolu (Legacy), 6-0, 6-4; No. 3 doubles — Brooke Griggy/Samantha Groen (Regis Jesuit) def. Kayva Trevidi/Aanshi Shah (Legacy), 6-4, 6-1; No. 4 doubles — Lucita Lewis/Cailyn Vu (Regis Jesuit) def. Nidhi Puttannadih/Hannah Kirkpatrick (Legacy), 6-0, 6-2
