Poudre’s Ky Ecton advanced to the semifinals at No. 1 singles on Thursday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Split sets, against her good friend. It was a familiar moment for Poudre’s Ky Ecton.
Ecton, a sophomore who plays No. 1 singles, was certainly accustomed with her opponent in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A girls tennis state tournament on Thursday: Mountain Range senior Kristen Kirby.
The two had played twice this season, including in the Front Range League tournament, and also met in the state tournament last season. Each match went three sets — and Kirby had won each time.
So when Thursday’s match went to a third set, Ecton sighed to herself, and thought, “Of course.”
“We’re actually really, really good friends, so I just love playing her every time,” Ecton said. “She’s just a great sport about everything.”
Mountain Range’s Kristen Kirby. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
“I was kind of expecting it to go to a third set,” Ecton added. “To be honest, we’re very similar in how we play, so I felt like if it wasn’t going to go to a third set, someone was going to have an off day.”
Ultimately, Ecton pulled off a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
“Going into it, I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Ecton said. “I figured win or lose, it was going to be a fun match, anyway — and it was. It was just a super fun match to play in.”
Ecton will face Cherry Creek’s Gloria Son on Friday. Son, a senior who won the No. 3 singles title last season, beat both of her opponents in straight sets to advance.
It will be another familiar opponent for Ecton, even if the two have never played.
“She’s my big sister’s old doubles partner, so she’s a friend, too,” Ecton said. “I haven’t played her because she’s a senior. … It’ll be really fun to see what happens.”
Ecton lost in the playback semifinals last season, and says she took a lot away from that experience.
“I learned that you’ve got to live in the moment, because you never know if you’re going to make it back all four years,” she said. “So you’ve just got to live in the moment and have fun, and be with your team while you can.”
The No. 1 singles bracket is pretty open, as both defending champion Amber Shen of Fairview, a sophomore, and Cherry Creek senior Kalyssa Hall, who finished runner-up, opted to not play this season.
In terms of the team race, Fairview jumped out after the first day with 19 overall points. The Knights qualified all seven positions for the tournament, and each one advanced to the quarterfinals. Of those, six remain alive in the semifinals.
Cherry Creek’s Gloria Son. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Cherry Creek, the 19-time defending champion and winner of 20 of the past 21 titles in 5A, sits in second place with 18 points. The Bruins have six positions in the semifinals, as well.
Mountain Vista is also in the title hunt with 14 points after the first day. The Golden Eagles have four positions in semifinals.
Fossil Ridge (nine points), Poudre (eight), and Heritage (seven) also scored highly as a team on the first day.