TJ Tennis finishes their season with victories and prepares for Regionals.
This year's tennis team is putting
This past week, the boys’ tennis team defeated East, placed second in a tournament and, continued its winning ways to take down Rangeview and Montbello.
Most recently, on September 25th, the Spartans faced Montbello, dominating the Warriors. TJ had a 3-0 lead before the rain started coming down, and the match was postponed. “Our entire team was playing well, and today, Montbello called to forfeit the remaining matches,” said Head Coach Tim Cueva.
The day before, on September 24th, TJ went up against Rangeview. “[Senior] Jeremy [Albright] and [Freshman] Tyler [Fairbairn] had dominant performances despite having the flu. Our doubles also performed well,” stated Cueva. The boys defeated the Raiders with a final score of 4-3. The number-one doubles, Senior Erich Deutch and Junior Morgan Hoyt, and the number-two doubles, Junior Devin Anderson and Sophomore Weston Wilkins, won their matches, which was enough to give TJ the victory.
State hopeful Jeremy Albright. Photo by Ryan Woods.
Last Friday, the Spartans had the South Rebel Invite where they came in second place. They competed against East, South, North, Cherry Creek, Eaglecrest, and Alexander Dawson, who won the tournament. Both Fairbairn and Senior Amadou Kromah won all of their matches, but the team fell short to Alexander Dawson. “We knocked out the big teams, East and Cherry Creek, and we gave Alexander Dawson a run for their money,” Cueva remarked. The Spartans were 10 points short of Alexander Dawson with a score of 32-42, and the team that came in third place, Cherry Creek, only had 19 points.
Amadou Kromah meets the ball. Photo by Ryan Woods
Finally, on September 20th, the Spartans faced their rivals from East. The boys’ came out strong and were able to overpower the Angels with a score of 4-3. Kromah had a “breakout come-from-behind victory,” as Cueva put it, which was the deciding match to whether the Spartans would beat the Angels. “Our singles played well. Tyler won a third-set tie-breaker as well, and Jeremy won straight sets,” explained Cueva.
Now that their regular season is over, the boys only have a few more practices until they are playing in Regional’s on October 4th and 5th. “I would love to get a player into state,” said a hopeful Cueva. “Jeremy and Amadou have an opportunity to make it if they play to the best of their abilities.” Albright will be going is into Regional’s with an undefeated season. Good luck boys!
8/24 TJ @Denver Science & Tech Stapleton (W)
8/30 TJ @George Washington (L)
9/4 TJ @Lincoln (W)
9/6 TJ @South (W)
9/11 TJ vs. Kennedy (W)
9/13 TJ vs. North (W)
9/20 TJ vs. East (W)
9/20 TJ vs. South Rebel Invite (2nd Place)
9/24 TJ @Rangeview (W)
9/25 TJ vs. Montbello (W)
