PUEBLO – Mother Nature remains undefeated in the spring. The Class 4A girls tennis tournament at Pueblo City Park had already been delayed a full day because of the record-setting rain storms that hit the I-25 corridor this week.
Now those with championship ambitions must wait a tad longer. Most semifinal matches made it onto the courts on Friday, but the rain started up again, postponing play for the rest of the day. The semifinal matches will conclude Saturday morning and then championship matches will be played before the remaining playback matches are put on the court.
Among the few winners that already advanced to the championship round is Kent Denver’s Lila Moldenhauer at No. 1 singles. She beat Palmer Ridge’s Alexis Ellison 6-2, 6-0. She awaits the winner of the other semifinal between Cheyenne Mountain freshman Sophie Zhou and Mullen senior Lexi Yost.
That semifinal match split the first two sets and will finish the third when matches resume Saturday morning.
For Moldenhauer, reaching the championship match has become something of a family affair. Her twin brother Will advanced to the No. 2 singles championship for the boys team in the fall, but ultimately fell to Colorado Academy’s Fabian Frenz.
Lila is hoping to avoid the same fate and leans on her brother to help be prepared for the moment she faces on Saturday.
“Our whole family is a tennis family and Will and I support each other,” she said. “I go to his state, he comes to my state. We teach each other a lot patience because we’re siblings. You have to have patience when you’re playing your sibling.”
Lila notes that the twins train with each other which means facing off on the court often. It’s that kind of training that Lila believes helped her get to where she is this weekend.
“He has a great serve, so I get to practice against that a lot,” she said.
Moldenhauer cruised through her first match against Lewis-Palmer’s Ellie Flinn 6-2, 6-0 before fending off George Washington’s Leah Tiktin 6-1, 6-4.
A handful of players and doubles teams advanced to the championship matches and will get some additional rest on Saturday before facing off with their opponents.
The No. 2 singles championship match is set as Niwot’s Sahasra Kolli takes on Cheyenne Mountain’s Alyssa Sadri.
Cheyenne Mountain advanced two other positions to finals as Saffron Heroldt moved on to the No. 3 singles championship while Jocelyn Kelly and Rose Katen made it to the No. 1 doubles championship.
Kent Denver’s Margaux Lively and Sofia Begal advanced to the No. 3 doubles championship and Mullen’s Emma Lehman and Grace Jeffers made it to the No. 4 doubles championship.
Action at Pueblo City Park will resume at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.