Prep notebook: VMS sweeps tennis regional titles

Tennis notes

Vail Mountain School’s girls tennis team claimed all seven finals at the 3A Region 8 tournament Friday in Grand Junction, the first time in region history that a single team has won every draw.

“Today was the best yet — all of our girls played exceptional in the finals,” coach Hillary McSpadden stated, echoing the proud vibes from assistant coaches Steve McSpadden and Eric Meyer as well.

“We imagined they could step up but exceeded their individual goals.”

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Catherine Dawsey had a strong finish in defeating Aspen’s Avery Leonard in the No. 1 singles position. No. 2 singles player Annika Iverson won a tiebreak in the second set to emerge victorious over Aspen’s Gemma Hill.

In the No. 3 singles final, Summer Sveum split the first two sets but took the win in the third set.

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The no. 1 doubles bracket was predicted to be the hardest for VMS to qualify out of, with sisters Gracie and Jesse Allen losing to Steamboat Springs during the regular season. The Allens took the Sailors representatives in straight sets, however, blazing the way for VMS’s No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 doubles teams to do the same. teams from Aspen and Steamboat Springs solidifying themselves in the regular season.

“Their opponents pushed them and they believed in their ability and took pressure as a privilege to heart,” McSpadden stated.

“They are ready for states.”

The state tournament is May 12-14 at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs.

Lacrosse notes

Danielle Mandeville scored four goals and had an assist to lead Eagle Valley to a 13-2 win over Summit on Thursday in the Devils final regular season game. Sienna Rinn and Chloe Turner added two goals each as eight different Devils put the ball in the back of the net.

The 24-team 4A state tournament is composed of league winners and RPI-determined at-large qualifiers. As of Friday, Eagle Valley is ranked No. 17 in the 4A RPI standings.

League automatic qualifiers not ranked in the RPI’s top 24 teams in 4A will replace the lowest ranked non-automatic qualifiers in RPI. State qualifiers are determined Saturday, with seeding set for Sunday.

Vail Mountain School boys lacrosse won its fourth game in a row on Thursday, taking down Summit 11-7 behind three goals from Sebastian Kohlofer and two from Mason Geller and Nick Kirwood. Geller also added three assists for the Gore Rangers (12-2) who are at Evergreen on Saturday to finish the regular season. With a 9-1 league record, Vail Mountain has secured the 4A Western Slope League crown, as second place Eagle Valley (6-3) wrapped up its regular season against Battle Mountain on Friday.

Soccer notes

Battle Mountain gave league-leading Steamboat Springs all they could handle on Thursday night, pushing the undefeated (in league play) Sailors right to the wire in a 3-1 road loss.

The Huskies led after the first half off of a goal from Cassie Ledezma.

“It’s the most insane feeling,” senior Ellie Blair told Shelby Reardon of the Steamboat Pilot .

“Coming down from a half when you’re losing 1-0 in one of your biggest games, it’s not a great feeling. Then your whole team coming together and playing for each other and scoring three in the second half – beautiful goals – feels insane.”

The Huskies were responsible for the Sailors’ sole league loss last season.

Gwyn Jamison tied things up nine minutes into the second half, sending a long distance arcing shot just over the reach of goalie Elle Glendinning. Darby Martinez gave the team the lead with 13 minutes to play before Battle Mountain took their defenders off to try and tie things back up, allowing Jamison to real in a second score.

“Proud of this group,” head coach Dave Cope stated. With the win, Steamboat Springs clinches the league title and an automatic playoff birth. The rest of the field will be determined next week. Battle Mountain has a final non-league matchup against The Classical Academy Saturday in Edwards.

As of Friday, the Huskies are No. 23 in the RPI, with the Titans sitting at No. 15.