Can No. 1 singles Jessie Allen and the Vail Christian girls tennis team make another deep state tournament run?
The Saints were state team runner-ups and qualified their entire line to the individual state tournament for the third year in a row in 2024
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
Jessie Allen has been fixture for four years on the Vail Christian volleyball and tennis courts. The senior libero guided the Saints to two state tournament appearances and has qualified for the individual state tennis tournament every season she’s been eligible. If anyone understands the ‘Saints’ Way,’ it’s Allen.
The No. 1 singles star — who will lead Vail Christian into the first round of the 3A state team tournament on Wednesday in Edwards — has spent her final prep campaign getting the next generation up to speed.
“It’s kind of just like, ‘here’s our list of what we like on the team: we like to have energy, we like to have fun, we like to put in the hard work,'” she said. “And winning is the result of all of those things.”
Under Allen’s leadership, the Saints have done quite a bit of winning. In volleyball, there was the 14-0 league record in 2023, a 22-game Western Slope winning streak and state trips in both 2022 and 2024. The Saints’ tennis exploits are perhaps even more impressive.
In 2023, the first year CHSAA separated the team title into its own tournament, Vail Christian made it to the state semifinals before getting ousted 4-3 by No. 1 Holy Family. Last year, the Saints rallied to defeat Peak to Peak in the state semifinals at the Homestead Court Club but fell 4-3 in the state championship to Colorado Academy. On Wednesday at 3 p.m., the No. 5-seeded Saints return to Homestead to begin their quest of taking the final step against No. 12 Dawson School. Peak to Peak enters as the No. 1 seed in the single-elimination tournament as defending champion No. 3 Colorado Academy sits on the other end of the bracket. High seeds host until the state final, set for May 13 at Denver Tennis Park.
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“We’re having fun and working hard,” stated head coach J.D. Webster. “We’re in the mix and making a run for states.”
“We’re so proud of our girls,” added assistant coach Kirsten Webster.
The graduation of Summer Sveum, Juliet Studness, Grace Armstrong and Linnea Iverson forced a few lineup adjustments for the Saints this spring. While this group — which rosters five new players — isn’t quite as experienced as the 2024 team that qualified all 11 athletes to the 3A individual tournament for the third-straight season and was ranked No. 1 at one point as a team, Allen thinks they have a shot at making a similar run.
“Our team is doing really good,” she said. “We’ve had a couple bumps having to move girls around in the lineups but everyone is adjusting really well.”
Vail Christian enters the playoff push with some momentum, having won its last two matches — against Northfield on April 11 and Aspen last Thursday — by a score of 6-1. Earlier in the year, they handed region rival Steamboat Springs its only divisional loss of the year, a 7-0 sweep. Allen took down Lucia del Haya 7-5, 6-3.
“She is an amazing player and I have always played her close,” Allen said. “I am happy to have that win.”
Alexa Blanch won 6-0, 6-0 over del Haya’s sister, Abby and No. 3 singles Heidi Iverson cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory as well. Iverson, the team’s assistant captain, had a breakthrough match at the Western Slope Invitational in Grand Junction in early March. The junior battled Fossil Ridge’s Lara Seager, eventually claiming a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win.
“It was both a mental and physical battle playing for two and a half hours,” Iverson stated. “I’m very thankful to my coaches for being there to help me through it and help me have fun while pushing through.”
Olivia Zajac and Sabrina Nabonsal leadoff the Saints’ doubles crew. They’re followed by the freshmen pairing of Autumn Woods and Camden Allen at No. 2 doubles, Ella Pecinka and Paige Asbury at No. 3 doubles and Anabelle Woodbridge and Coco Terrell at the fourth spot. Allen said having five new players in the varsity lineup has altered the team’s vibes a little from last year.
“We lost so many people and there’s so many new people who, one, have never played tennis and, two, aren’t really involved in a lot of team sports so they don’t know how to be a team,” Allen explained. “So, I think we’re trying to find our mojo so we can find that good energy.”
Catching the crew up on culture — where winning is the byproduct of hard work — is critical.
“That’s kind of what the coaches have helped instill,” Allen said. “And basically, whenever girls get heady on the team, we’re just like, ‘hey relax, tennis is fun, we’re here to have fun. Take the pressure off and we’ll get far.'”
It’s a lesson she’s learned for herself.
“I’ve learned to train my mental side,” Allen continued. “I’ve realized that hey, bad things happen, it’s life, we’re all human. And it just helped me kind of relax more.”
Allen began working with a private coach in Denver this August. Throughout the fall and winter, she left her house every Tuesday at 5 a.m. for two-hour practices, returning for school and volleyball practice. Even though she was meeting with college coaches for both sports during her junior seasons, she’s decided to play tennis next fall at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
“I realized as a double major, I have to pick one,” explained Allen, whose sister, Gracie, is a setter for Hope College, which went 29-3 and made it to the DIII national semifinals last fall.
The individual region and state tournaments get underway in the coming weeks as well. Last spring, Vail Christian walked away from the individual state tournament with three second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. Sveum and Elalayli were bronze medalists in the No. 1 doubles slot while Allen was ousted in the No. 1 singles playback semifinals. This year, Allen has only lost three matches: to Mountain Vista’s Sabrina Newell and Regis Jesuit’s Rebecca Gelfer at the Western Slope Invite in Grand Junction and to Isabelle Jacobsma of Dawson School at the Centaurus Invitational.
“I’m pretty satisfied so far,” Allen said of her year as a whole.
The 3A Region 8 individual tournament is May 1-2 at Canyon View Park, with the top-2 athletes in each category moving on to the state tournament, held at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs from May 8-10. Across the team and individual events, Allen is hoping to finish her prep career in style.
“I want to work my hardest and if I can get to the finals and possibly win state, then I’ll be happy,” she said. “But if not, at least I know I tried my best to get where I was.”
