For the first time, the Colorado High School Activities Association is hosting a girls tennis team state tournament where the top 16 teams compete for an overall school state championship. 

On Monday, April 24, Steamboat Springs learned it had qualified for the tournament as the No. 10 seed. The team traveled to Denver for a match against No. 7 Northfield on Wednesday, April 26. 

“This is a big compliment because you have two mountain schools throughout the entire state making the 3A team playoffs, us and Vail,” Steamboat head coach Bill Conway said. “It is not like a Denver tournament or a Steamboat tournament, this is the entire state championship.”

Though Conway was unable to attend, assistant coach Jason Scicchitano took his place and was impressed with the Sailors’ performance, as Steamboat took a 4-3 victory and advanced to the quarterfinals. 

“We’ve been working on a lot of their weaknesses in practice and today was the first day where it really came through,” Scicchitano said. “It was really cool to see and just in the nick of time because we squeaked by a little bit at 4-3.”

Though Steamboat came up short in both its No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, it was the doubles teams that carried the team to victory, winning the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 matches. 

“Our doubles players really crushed it,” Scicchitano said. “They all won somewhat decisively and did stuff the other teams were not doing.”

The Sailors will hit the road once again on Friday, April 28, for the quarterfinals match against No. 2 Colorado Academy in Denver.

Steamboat Springs 4, Northfield 3
Singles: 1. Northfield def. Lucia del Haya, SS, 6-3, 6-1. 2. Northfield def. Jacey LaRock, SS, 6-0, 6-0. 3. Lyla Baker, SS, def. Northfield 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles: 1. Evan Quinn and Kelsey Norland, SS, def. Northfield 6-1, 6-2. 2. Dylan Quinn and Amanda Dietrich, SS, def. Northfield 6-4, 6-3. 3. Leslie Jimenez and Kayla O’Brien, SS, def. Northfield 6-4, 6-3. 4. Northfield def. Taylor Rockford and Molly Hopkins, SS, 6-4, 6-4.