Pueblo – Christina Cutter might be one of the Three Musketeers at No. 1 singles, but the Cheyenne Mountain High School senior on Thursday was focused on pursuit of the team title, not an individual crown at the Class 4A girls state tennis tournament.
Cutter and singles teammates Cayley and Casey Wetzig led the Indians on opening day at the City Park tennis complex in Cheyenne Mountain’s quest to unseat two-time defending champion Kent Denver.
At the end of two rounds, it was a dead heat, although Cheyenne Mountain’s singles players did their part with two wins each. Kent and Cheyenne Mountain are deadlocked at 12 points and five players in the 9 a.m. semifinals today, with Greeley West third with 10 points.
“Everyone’s working for every point,” Cutter said after cruising to 6-0, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-0 victories in the first two rounds. She was runner-up last year to four-time champion Nicole Leimbach of Pine Creek at No. 1 singles.
This year, Cutter, Catherine Duboc of Kent Denver and Sarah Drummond of Pueblo South were labeled the Three Musketeers by South coach Norm Vail because the No. 1 field appears wide open with the graduation of Leimbach.
Although Cutter did talk about her own aspirations, she wanted to emphasize the focus is on winning a trophy for the Colorado Springs school.
“We’re all about team this year,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Jason Kirkland said. “The individual titles will take care of themselves. I’m going to buy the (Pueblo) Central and Mullen coaches a steak dinner.”
His reference was to Kara Kochenberger of Pueblo Central knocking out a Kent player at No. 3 singles and Mullen defeating Kent at No. 3 doubles. Cheyenne Mountain’s only entry to lose was its No. 1 doubles team.
“It’s frustrating,” Kirkland said. “We had so many double faults in that match.”
Kent also defeated Cheyenne Mountain in the No. 2 doubles quarterfinal, Thursday’s only head-to-head match between the top two teams. Today, Cayley Wetzig will play Lauren Miller of Kent at No. 2 singles, the only semifinal confrontation between the schools.
In the top singles bracket, Drummond cruised 6-1, 6-2 past Mullen sophomore Jodi Ciar- vella in the quarterfinals.
“That was a real good warm- up,” Vail said. “There were a lot of shots per point, and she was hitting a cleaner ball (than in the opening round).”
Drummond meets Cutter of Cheyenne Mountain in one semifinal, with Duboc facing Cathy Starke of Fountain Valley in the other.
Cutter said she and Drummond have been playing each other since they were 10 years old. That suits Drummond, who said playing a familiar opponent sometimes gives her an advantage.
