During the weekend of 5/5, the Coronado women’s tennis team took on The Colorado 4A Tennis Regionals at Cheyenne Mountain High School with hope for a win and shot at state. After a successful two days, the team took third place in the tournament by just one point and finished the regional with the second-most singles and doubles players progressing to state. The team gave the competition their all and are excited for a second year at state with head coach Tyler Philipsen.

Tennis is different from most high school sports because state qualifications occur at the individual position level, not on the team level. Tennis is separated into two categories: singles and doubles. On a traditional high school team, the positions are as follows: one singles, two singles, and three singles. For doubles, there are two girls in each position, going from one doubles to four doubles. With that being said, this year, Coronado 3 doubles, 2 doubles, 1 doubles, and for the first time in Coronado women’s tennis history, 1 singles, all qualified for state by taking second place at regionals.

This year, Coronado was the second seed at regionals in the majority of positions, second only to Cheyenne Mountain. Their seeding proved a valuable asset in helping the girls clinch state qualification, allowing the team to easier teams in the first round of the competition. In the first round, Coronado positions played either Mitchell or Mesa Ridge, the bottom two seeds in the tournament.

All of the Cougars’  positions progressed to the semifinals, where the doubles teams played their evenly-matched rivals: Lewis Palmer. Earlier in the season, Coronado lost to the Rangers in a close 3-4 match, so this time, the Cougars were ready to prove themselves. 1, 2, and 3 doubles came out on top as well as 1 singles, securing a spot in the finals to play Cheyenne. Playing a defending state champion team was no easy feat, but the girls put up a good fight. Although all Coronado’s positions lost in the finals, their second place finishes were enough to secure spots at the Colorado 4A Women’s Tennis State Championships on 5/10 and 5/11.

Seniors Maya Glaser, Emma Sartain, Clara Thompson, junior Connie Sun, and sophomore Anna Griffin all qualified for State for the second year in a row- but the team’s most exciting accomplishment was the first time qualification of #1 singles senior Savannah Leifer. Leifer has  played tennis her whole life under the guidance of her father Scott, who is a current Tennis Pro at Garden of the Gods Club. Among the most memorable moments of the tournament was watching Leifer run into her father’s arms yelling, “I did it Dad! I did it,” and watching the pair embrace and cry as Savannah’s father told her how proud he was of her.

“The whole match I didn’t think about what the outcome would be, I stayed stoic and stayed in the zone. The last game of the match was the longest game I have ever played, it went to add over 10 times and the last point was unforgettable. After I won I ran off the court into my dad’s arms, he has been my coach my whole life,… it was such an incredible moment to run up to him while we were both crying out of joy,” reminices the state qualifier.

Best of luck to Leifer and all Coronado’s state tennis qualifiers as they fight for glory on 5/10 and 5/11 at the Colorado 4A Women’s Tennis State Championships at Pueblo City Park in Pueblo, Colorado.