Photo by Rebecca Holt

The Lady Spartan tennis team opened up its season by rebelling against South’s Rebels to achieve a 5-2 Victory.

Strong showings from the senior cast assisted in the team’s dominance on Thursday. Senior Freddi Gidan demonstrated why she is number one singles by obliterating her opponent in 6-2 and 6-0 wins. Senior Jamie Gray, not to be shown up, defeated her opponent on the other end of the court with 6-4 and 6-2 victorious performances. Gray says, “I was content with the way I played. Not only did it set a positive tone for my season as a whole, but it helped in the victory that put smiles on our faces looking forward to the rest of our season.”

Eying further victories down the road, the team expects to host a season heavy on the achievements and victories, light on the defeats. New assistant coach, Officer Tim Cueva shared his insight on the state of the team this season and into the future: “I really have no expectations this season, nothing bad and nothing really good either. The reason for this is due to how young our team is; we are going to be caught in a bit of learning phase this season. If that works out well then good things can only come in the future, but who is to say.” Cueva continued on to elaborate on Junior Hanna Kazlovskaya’s noticeable raw talent for her first year on the team that has earned her the No. 3 Singles spot. “If we can capture our young team’s desire, and continue fueling people like Hanna’s competitive spirit, I am positive we can field an exceptional squad in the future.” The season has only just begun, and though it will be a learning process the Lady Spartan tennis team will continue bringing home victories.

The tennis season has come to an end, but the Spartans are proud of the adversity they overcame. photo by Kevin Fleming

The end of Regionals for the Lady Spartan Tennis Team marks the end for the 2009 season. The Tennis team competed valiantly, but came up short in the end.

Even though the girls’ tennis team season ended short, the hopes for the future are easy to come by. With this year’s team consisting of mostly underclassmen, with the exceptions of only two seniors, Kaily Blackburn and Khalae Adams, the team has next year ahead of them to grow as individuals and as a team. Some old faces coming back include Jamie Gray and Freddi Gidan who are expected to lead the team into the future.

Blackburn hopes to keep competing, this time at the next level. She was very upset that her run had to end so early, due to an unexpected sinus infection that prevented her from competing in the regional tournament. She has high hopes for the future team, and knows that most of the team will return next season.  Due to their decent league record, 5-4, the hype for the girls’ tennis team has began to grow.

The Lady Spartans hope to grow significantly with the numerous amount of new prospects for the team. Even though the season ended in defeat, you can’t defeat the passion and excitement that many Thomas Jefferson High School tennis players are now showing.

Freddi Gidan will be a vital component for the rest the tennis season. photo by Kevin Fleming

The Thomas Jefferson Lady Spartans Tennis team battled adversity this past week, playing South with a diminished team. When the Spartans went to South in search of a big league win, they went with half a varsity squad.

Nonetheless, the team had high hopes and aspirations and nearly came away with the win, but ended up  losing 4-3. Leader, and four-time varsity starter Kaily Blackburn won her personal match, but was more proud of her fellow teammates and how they persevered through the tough week. Blackburn said, “I was so proud of how the girls played; half of them played their first varsity match that day, and they really gave it their all.”

That same weekend the tennis team went to the Lincoln Invitational and came away tied for third out of all the teams in the Denver Prep League. The highlight of the day was given to Blackburn; she went up against some really hard opponents and came out on top winning the entire match. She came away holding the first place trophy high above her head. With most of the season still in front of the Lady Spartans they have high hopes for the rest of this season. The Ladies gave it their best against the Patriots from George Washington last night, but came up short, losing 5-2. The inexperience of the Spartans showed last night playing a heavily senior dominated Patriots team. The season still has hope in the matches to come so watch out DPL because the Spartans are on the comeback.

Senior Kaily Blackburn sends a powerful backhand to her opponent in TJ's 7-0 over the West Cowboys on March 19. photo by Kevin Fleming

The girls’ tennis team took to the court prior to spring break in an attempt to win two big league matches. The Lady Spartans took on the East Angels and the West Cowboys in Denver Prep League play and experienced two incredibly different results.

The Spartans went down in defeat to the Angels 7-0, losing all of their matches. They played hard but the very experienced East team clearly out matched them with high speed serves and tenacious backhanded shots.

It was the other way around against West, as the Lady Spartans won across the board devastating the Cowboys in Spartan fashion. TJ won 7-0 and had an enormous confidence boost after the big win. Sophomore Mia Nogueira is impressed by the developing team chemistry. “After every match the squad becomes closer as a unit and are building skills together.  We are getting better and better, giving us a real positive outlook for the rest of the season,” said Nogueira.

The team is going to need this new found confidence as they take on the South Rebels next Tuesday, April 7 at South at 4:15.

Girls Tennis started off the season storng with a 6-1 victory over Montbello on March10. photo by Kevin Fleming

On March 12the Lady Spartan tennis team took on and handed a loss to fellow Denver Public Schools’ Montebello Warriors.

It was a dominating performance for all the tennis players, winning across the board with the exception of a forfeit by Kaily Blackburn, who was very upset at having to sit out the match. “I was really sad that I had to miss the first match of the season, but I’m really happy with how the rest of the team played, and I hope that I will be okay for next week’s match against East,” said Blackburn

The performance exhibited by these athletes is a sign of what is to come. The girls have a tough season in front of them and they hope to make the best of it. They anticipate doing what no former Lady Spartan tennis team has done before: qualifying for the Regional Tournament and making the State Tournament in May.

    The Lady Spartans continued there successful season as the routed the Montbello warriors 7-0.
    This is just the latest win for the Spartans as they had one of their more successful seasons in a long time.  This match had been highly anticipated as this was yet another tough league opponent for the Spartans.  These two teams had gone back and forth among themselves over the past few years and the Spartans took the match last year and were wanting another victory to show who the dominant team is.  
    It was obvious from the get go that the Spartans had come to play as the number one singles match started.  The match went quickly and the next three single matches seemed to follow in quick succession.  Now it was time for the doubles to keep up the pace that the Spartan singles had set for the team.  The number one doubles pair came up and just like the number one single, made quick work of the Warriors.  The next two matches were exactly the same and it was obvious to see who the dominant team was this year.  This is the second year that the Spartans have beaten the Warriors and also the second time that it was by means of a shutout.
    This weekend will commence the annual playoffs for the girls’ tennis season.  Even though it might just be districts, it is still critical to the success of the Spartans as they will hope to progress in the playoffs.  They must win their matches if they would hope to make it to the regional competition.  This means that the pressure will be constantly on if any of the Spartans wish to go deep into the playoffs this year.  Last year, junior number one single Mindy Gidan, fell just short of making it to the state competition.
 

    The Lady Spartans took on a tough team from East and they were not able to pull out a win, as they were shutout 0-7.
    The girls were looking to continue their early season success that they have had against league opponents.  Their latest win came against the tough league opponent Lincoln and this match against East had been highly anticipated.  The girls were looking to pull out their first win against East in many years;  however,  the Angels would once again get the best of the Spartans.  The match started off with two quick victories for the Angels as the number one singles and doubles matches went to East.  It seemed like the Spartans had lost the momentum that had carried them past the other league opponents.  This tough loss hopefully doesn’t stick with the Spartans, for there is a lot more of the season left to play.  They will have to keep renew their winning ways to take them into this year’s playoffs.  
    The lady Spartans will have a tough challenge ahead of them when they will go to George Washington on the 22nd at 4:15.
 

    The Spartans played a powerful team but were able to pull out another impressive win, beating the Denver School of Science and Technology 7-0.
    This is just another win in the early season success that the Spartans have had this season.  This is the third year in a row that the Spartans have beaten their tough league opponents.  The Spartans seemed to be able to come right back after their win against Lincoln.  The long rest did not seem to bother them at all as the Spartans won their first six games and henceforth the first two sets.  It only happened that the Spartans would give up one game in the last single set.  This did not any effect though, as the Spartans rebounded strongly, winning the rest of the games and eventually the set.  All of the doubles teams performed well as they did not lose a game and took all of the sets.  It seems like the Spartans are going to make a major run at the DPS title this year.  If they continue to play at the same intensity that they have been these first few matches, they might have the chance to make a real match out of East and George Washington.
    This weekend, the Spartans sent some of their best to the Lincoln Invitational and they had another strong performance.  Claire Larson ended up coming in at first place in the singles events.  Being the number one, or ace, meant that the she had a lot to prove and she did just, that winning all of her matches.  It was a very good outing as she beat out many other tough competitors from many other tough DPS schools.  The success that they have had in their first few matches seemed to cross over into this tournament.  The Spartans will have a major challenge when the powerful East Angels come to TJ.  The Spartans play East today, the 15th, here at TJ at 4:15.
 

    The girls’ tennis team continued their dominance over league opponents by devastating Lincoln 6-1.
    The girls were coming off of a strong performance against South and looked to continue their success.  West had brought some tough matches as the girls only won by one set their last meeting.  However, with a restructured team, things would not prove to be the same, as the girls seemed to strike fast, winning their first two games.  The third set seemed to be different as West rebounded strongly winning the next game.  This would be as close as the Cowboys would get as the Spartans ran away with the doubles matches.  The Spartans won all three of the doubles matches and over the whole season have lost just one game in doubles.  Hopefully this trend continues as the season continues for the Spartans.
    As the season has progressed, the players have started to notice something special about the team.  They have outscored their opponents 19-2 in their matches thus far.  In most of the matches in the Spartans have lost just one of their sets.  This means that the number of sets won is even a bigger difference than the total points.  This is one of the better early seasons that the Spartans have enjoyed in many years.  The last time that the Spartans had this good of an early season, they finished up in second place in the Denver Prep League, just barely falling behind George Washington.  The girls hope the streak they  are on now doesn’t stop any time soon and they are able to compete with powerhouse teams such as East and George Washington.
    The Spartans next game is this Thursday against North at North at 4.
 

By Keenan Moore

Photo by Ryanne Mollo

The girls’ tennis team had their third match of the season and they pulled out another win, beating the West Cowboys 6-1.
    This is the third win in a row for the Lady Spartans and they have had total success in all of their games so far this season.  In fact, the Spartans have outscored their opponents 19-2 in the three matches they have played.  They have now beaten three tough league opponents and have started their season just like they wanted.
    Having to play West brought some controversial calls in the past matches.  However, this time proved to be just the opposite, as nothing seemed to be a major issue in the matches.  All of the matches were clean, and there were no major issues that were brought up by either of the teams.  Lets hope that this sets up as trend for future games against these two Denver Prep League opponents.
    The girls’ next match comes against East and it is an understatement to say that the Angels are a powerful team.  This match is critical to the success of the overall season for the Spartans.  If the girls can take down East, they will receive a high ranking in the playoffs.  The Spartans play East at East on April 15th at 4:15.