Pueblo – Power nearly won over precision across the board during the first two rounds of the Class 4A state tennis tournament Thursday in City Park.
Three of the four tournament favorites advanced at No. 1 singles, with heavy-hitter Brandon Lupo of Broomfield leading the charge. Mullen’s Chris Peck and Daniel Moore of Cheyenne Mountain also advanced to today’s semifinals.
In the team race, Cheyenne Mountain advanced at all seven spots for 14 points. Kent Denver, Mullen and Steamboat Springs followed with 11, while Broomfield has 10.
The clear trend in the showcase division was that strength rules. But the one major exception turned out to be the match of the day.
The soft touch of Cheyenne Mountain’s Moore netted him an unusual three-set victory over Alexander Dawson’s Erik Lillydahl. In the second game, Lillydahl aced once with his brawny serve and hit for four straight unreturned points to go up 2-0, then won the first match 6-3. Lillydahl seemed in control until the second set.
Moore began running Lillydahl with accurate shots near the lines. Lillydahl, who went 6-3, 7-5 to beat Steamboat Springs’ Walker Loetscher in the first round, wore down. By the time Moore won the second set, 6-4, Lillydahl was gassed. He retreated to the clubhouse between sets and when he took too long to return for the final set, the line judge penalized him a point. Moore then cruised to win the final set 6-0.
“I can usually outlast people,” Moore said. “I try to run them around. I was at 0-2 in the second set, and I thought if I don’t go for it, I’m going to lose. So instead of just trying to keep it in, I tried to make shots.”
Lupo set the pace by winning two undefeated matches with physical shots. His 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Pine Creek freshman Ashton Kalhorn reinforced Lupo is the player to beat.
“I like matches to get done as quick as possible,” said Lupo, who beat Ralston Valley’s Chris Castaneda 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. “My goal is to go 6-0 in every match. I want to let everyone know I’m not here to fool around.”
Mullen’s Peck, also a hefty hitter but with a more balanced approach, advanced with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Pueblo East’s Patrick Aguilar. Peck trailed 5-2 in the first set, but rattled off 11 consecutive points to win.
“I just tried to play high-percentage shots,” Peck said.
Peck beat Moore earlier in the year and will face him again in today’s semifinal match. Lupo will take on Kent Denver’s Vincent Heguy, a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) winner over Greeley West’s Seth Krammer.
A crucial match at No. 1 doubles between Cheyenne Mountain and Kent Denver put some distance between the teams. The Indians’ Alex Brooke and Brad Young beat the Sun Devils’ Brad Morse and Moses Taylor 6-2, 6-1, to give Cheyenne Mountain the early lead. Of the five teams to qualify at all seven positions, only Cheyenne Mountain advanced players at each level.
“It’s the same old, same old,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Dave Adams said of his team’s race with Kent Denver.
Nick Groke can be reached at 303-820-1960 or ngroke@denverpost.com.
