On one side, there was Cherry Creek’s Caroline Schnell and her coach, Chris Jacob, all smiles. On the other sat a frustrated Erin Sanders of Ponderosa, discouraged by her own play as much as the way things were turning out, as her coach, Lisa Polk, provided words of encouragement.
And that was only after five games — then again after the first set.
That should say all you need to know, not so much about this particular match, but also where the team championship stands — again — after Friday’s semifinal round of the girls 5A state tennis championship at the Gates Tennis Center.
Ponderosa entered the day just one point back of Cherry Creek, but by day’s end the Bruins had qualified their nine remaining players — three singles players and three doubles teams — into today’s championship round and, in the process, wrapped up a 13th straight state team title. Cherry Creek has 62 points after Friday’s play. Ponderosa finished the day with 42 points after the playback round but can score a maximum of only 11 today. Chatfield sits third with 35 points.
“I knew we were only up by one point today in the standings, so overall we thought it was critical today to play as well we can and get as many points as we can,” said Schnell, who scored a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sanders in a matchup of the last two No. 1 state singles champions. “I just hope that my points add to the team’s overall so we can come out on top in the standings tomorrow.”
As things turned out, she won’t have to wait until today to find out.
Whereas Cherry Creek was rolling along, Ponderosa was watching a golden opportunity slip through its fingers. Sanders’ game, in particular her serve, was falling apart before her very eyes, while on the adjacent court, her teammate, No. 2 singles player Brittany Ricci, was facing a similar fate.
Ricci, a state champion herself at No. 3 singles last year, was faring better, at least on the surface, against Grand Junction senior Jenny Jessup. But within seconds of Sanders’ defeat, Ricci was ousted from the championship draw herself, 6-4, 6-2. With it, for all intents and purposes, went the Mustangs’ bid for a state team title.
In all, only one of Ponderosa’s seven semifinalists — No. 3 singles player Kaley Carmi- chael — made it to today’s championship match.
“We knew we had an opportunity to come in and make a difference,” Polk said. “For us to see what happened today, you get to the semifinals, you’ve got to rise up to the challenge and go for it. The kids are working hard, but, unfortunately, they came up short.”
Things started out fine for Sanders, the 2007 state champion at No. 1, after she broke serve in the match’s first game. But then things fell apart in a hurry. Schnell won the next 10 games, breaking serve five times.
“I definitely used that (Sanders’ frustration) to my advantage because I knew her serve wasn’t as good as it normally was,” Schnell said.
In the first set, Sanders was broken three times, but her service game played as much of a role in that as did Schnell’s power game. The Ponderosa senior missed on her first four serves and double-faulted seven times, including three times on her last service game, leading to a 5-1 advantage for the 2008 state champion.
Schnell closed out the match one game later, breaking serve again, to advance to today’s final against Natalie Dunn. The Poudre junior beat Cherokee Trail’s Jacqueline Palmucci 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal to set up a rematch of last year’s state semifinal.
“We’ve played so many times since we were little, you know. We’re always in the same tournament. She is playing really well,” said Dunn, who lost to Schnell two weeks ago in the finals of the Cherry Creek Invitational 6-1, 6-4. “I think I just need to make sure to come out strong in the first set. So I can’t have any slow starts like I did today. She’s a good player. It will be a fun match.”
