Pueblo West’s Marirose Bernal returns a shot during the quarterfinals of the 2016 Class 4A girls state tennis tournament. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
PUEBLO — Marirose Bernal didn’t even have time to process her loss in the No. 1 doubles quarterfinals at the Class 4A girls state tennis tournament.
The second the final point went to Kent Denver, she darted out of the court and bolted toward the parking lot.
She had a test. But not just any test. She had to get back to Pueblo West High School to take her IB exam. There was a chance that she wasn’t even going to be able to play. After she and Annemarie Parker beat Niwot’s Emma Lerner and Amanda Duquette in the first round, she hit the books and started watching the clock.
“I would study, go on the court and have study words in my head,” she said. “I’d come off the court, try to study and all I would hear were tennis balls hitting.”
Bernal had to be back at the school at 4:30 p.m. When CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico was alerted of the situation, he told the Cyclones that they would have the first available court for No. 1 doubles so they would have the best chance to complete their match and she could return to the school in time.
The loss was a setback for Pueblo West, but they’re still looking strong going into Friday’s semifinals. They trail overall leader and defending champion Cheyenne Mountain by 12 points, but are determined to make the most of playing on what is essentially their home court.
“We knew coming in because of the competition that all 11 girls were going to have to play their best tennis for three days,” Cyclones coach Sam Pisciotta said. “You have to be on. It’s hard to lose a couple in the first round.”
But they got some of the biggest wins when it mattered the most. In No. 1 singles, Sara Schoenbeck came away with a marathon win over Niwot’s Julia Pentz. The two competed against each other at state last year and during the regular season this year. Each time, the match went to three sets and that streak remained alive Thursday.
For Schoenbeck, the match seemed to drag on for hours.
“It feels like it, oh my gosh it took forever,” she said. “It’s always a long match. I think we play a lot the same. We’re the exact same type of players.”
But in the end, edging Pentz was perhaps the biggest win of the day for the Cyclones. They’ll come into Friday’s session with two players in the semifinals and will have a chance to get more points in playback scenarios.
But it looks to be a tough track to climb back and catch up with Cheyenne Mountain and Kent Denver. The Sun Devils are currently in second place with 18 points. They qualified in six of the seven positions, missing out on No. 2 singles. The Indians remained perfect in play and look to continue that run in the semifinals.
The semifinals rounds will begin Friday at 9 a.m. Playback brackets will be determined based on the results of semifinals and will begin shortly after.