Surprising Indians in the hunt

Defending champions tied for lead after five reach semifinals

By KATY BOOTH

   PUEBLO - Cheyenne Mountain girls tennis coach Dave Adams was pleasantly surprised by his team's performance after Thursday's 4A state tournament quarterfinals at Pueblo City Park.

    "We played better today than I could have expected," he said. "We have a lot of young players without much experience at this level, and I can't say enough about the way they played today."

    Cheyenne Mountain is tied with Steamboat Springs with 11 points, followed by usual title contenders Niwot and Kent Denver. The Indians and Steamboat Springs both have five semifinalists.

    No. 1 singles player Meha Semwal defeated Pueblo South's Sarah Housman 7-5, 6-4 to advance to today's 9 a.m. semifinal match against Kent Denver freshman Sammie Watson.

    "I pretty much am just trying to keep playing tennis and not think too much," Semwal said.

    Joining her in the semifinals is No. 2 singles player Kristina Barber, who defeated Fossil Ridge's Michelle Wadas 6-4, 6-3 in her quarterfinal. Barber, who was Semwal's partner last year when the thenfreshman duo won the state No. 1 doubles title, faces Lindsay Barlow of Kent Denver today.

    "Kristina has been so solid all year, and today she really stayed with her game," Adams said.

    The Indians will depend heavily on their doubles teams today to pull ahead in the team competition and defend their 2007 title.

    "A lot of our doubles matches have been going three sets and really coming down to it," Adams said. "It was great to get ourselves in position in the quarterfinals, but the semifinals are where we really have to score points as a team."

    After defeating both of her foes, Fountain Valley No. 1 singles player Clarke Tatje is in the semifinals. Tatje defeated Niwot's Allie Hefter 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Tatje, who had not lost a set all season until Thursday, battled back to win the third.

    "I was feeling good after the first set, but I had some stomach cramps and got a little off in the second," the Fountain Valley junior said. "I came out in the third and just started playing more to the middle and not trying to go for so many winners."

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