BOULDER — Will Vasos felt the nerves Saturday morning, hands shaking and the whole bit.
But after a thrilling three-set victory to claim the Class 5A tennis top singles title over solo artist Calix van Lier, Vasos was as laid back as your grandfather’s La-Z-Boy on Thanksgiving.
“I’ve never been that nervous in my life coming out,” Vasos, a senior at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, said about a shaky start that found him trailing 4-1 to van Lier.
“I tried hitting good returns, going for it. That helped,” a cool Vasos said on a chilly, drizzly day after pulling out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over van Lier at the University of Colorado tennis courts.
For his part, van Lier, a senior who transferred from Boulder to Fairview last summer, was a ninja. He darted back and forth along the baseline, and cutting to his left before you knew he was right. With Vasos tense, van Lier looked unstoppable early in the first set.
“He seemed like he was nervous early on, giving away a lot of free points,” van Lier said. “But he started to turn it on there, played really good tennis, and I couldn’t touch it for that first part there when he started to come back.”
Van Lier ended a stellar prep career with three top-four finishes at No. 1 singles. His college and pro career is undecided.
Vasos, 21-0 this season, was just as complimentary as van Lier. Still, he didn’t earn a namesake from his coach/sister.
Bobbe Bennett, who was on hand coaching and smiling, will give birth within days, but there will be no “Lil’ Will” yet.
“It’s a girl,” Bennett said.
Cherry Creek clinched the team title on Friday, making it 34 championships in 36 years for the mighty Bruins.
This year was as remarkable as any other, as Kirk Price’s powerhouse squad claimed all but one of the seven positional titles.
“This is a good group,” said Price, coach for the past 17 years. “There were some freeze-up moments, but they played well.”
No Bruin victory was more impressive than Chris Cooprider’s at No. 2 singles.
Facing defending state champion Casey MacMaster of Rocky Mountain, Cooprider rallied after a first-set loss to take the second set, and set up match point before rain stopped play.
Cooprider and a seemingly reluctant MacMaster returned after a 23-minute delay. MacMaster, who at times acted like the sophomore that he is, shrugged off the match point and forced a tiebreaker with lumberjack power.
After more than three hours of action, Cooprider capped the emotional match with an overhead smash opened up by a huge serve. “I didn’t expect it to go to a third-set breaker, but I knew it was going to be tough,” Cooprider said.
Cherry Creek’s Harry Jewett claimed his third state title, the first without a partner. In the quickest match of the day, Jewett handled Greg Wilson of Rocky Mountain 6-0, 6-0. “The score doesn’t tell how difficult the match was,” Jewett said.
For the second consecutive season, the Bruins won all four doubles matches. Austin West and John Posada at No. 1 had to go three sets, but the others cruised.
