Pueblo – It’s a nostalgia tour for Lauren Miller of Kent Denver High School at the Class 4A girls state high school tennis tournament at the City Park Tennis Complex this weekend.
Miller dominated Casey Wetzig of Cheyenne Mountain in their Friday No. 1 singles semifinal match, 6-1, 6-1. She will face state tournament newcomer Simone Kalhorn of Pine Creek in today’s 9 a.m. title showdown. The championships and third-place matches wrap up the three-day affair.
Miller led three Sun Devils entries into today, but four-time defending champion Kent Denver fell further behind team leaders Mullen and Cheyenne Mountain on Friday. Miller said she was playing pretty much for herself in her final court appearance.
“I’ve played tennis my entire life, but this is my last tournament ever,” Miller said Friday.
She is headed to Duke University to play field hockey, and she missed several Kent matches this season as a member of a field hockey traveling team that played in Holland. Her summer will be devoted to field hockey, not tennis.
“That’s where my heart is, in field hockey,” Miller said. “But I just love to compete.”
She was clearly on a mission against Wetzig as Miller looks to add a No. 1 singles title to the three she won at No. 2.
Miller is the only senior in the semifinal field and takes a 10-0 record into today’s final against Kalhorn, who is 18-0, is playing in her first state high school tournament after living and training in Las Vegas last year.
Kalhorn felt she could have opened faster against Mullen’s Jodi Ciarvella in a 6-3, 6-1 semifinal win and said she will need to be focused at the beginning against Miller.
“I need to start off quicker. I’m going to have to go to the net against (Miller),” Kalhorn said.
The Pine Creek junior said she was starting to “get negative” when Ciarvella stayed close in the first set on Friday. Some encouragement from her coach at a break got her refocused for the second set, she said.
“The hardest thing is to relax and play your best,” Kalhorn said.
While Kent has dominated the team trophy for the past four years, Mullen and Cheyenne Mountain have always been strong contenders. The Indians won the team title in 2000, and Mullen in 2001. Mullen got a boost out of the comeback matches on Friday afternoon to take a 58-53 lead over the Indians.
“We knew we had to get everybody through,” Mullen coach Brett Shirley said. “Kimber (Robbins) at No. 3 just did awesome. We weren’t sure about Kimber. And all of our doubles made it.”
Robbins reached the semifinals before losing and stayed alive in playbacks. The Mustangs put a doubles team in every championship match today and will meet head-to-head with Cheyenne Mountain at No. 2 and No. 4.
The Indians have those two doubles teams in the championships along with Alana Humpal at No. 2 singles and Mary Russell at No. 3.
Shirley said the Mustangs lost to Cheyenne Mountain 4-3 in dual action two weeks ago but Ciarvella was sick and Mullen forfeited at No. 1.
“It came down to a third-set tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles. It was that close,” Shirley said.
It could be that close today, too, in a neck-and-neck race.
