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Steamboat ends home season with win

Dave Shively

— After sophomore Molly Weiss’ powerful serve, she scrambled for an outstretched volley. The ball was returned, but her No. 1 doubles partner, Kristin Toy, was at the net to slam the winning shot home for their 6-1, 6-2, win against Columbine on Saturday at the Tennis Center at Steamboat Springs.

“I asked Molly, ‘Where did that blazing speed come from?’ and she said, ‘I’ve always had it, I just don’t always use it,'” Steam–boat Springs High Sch–ool tennis coach John Aragon said after the match.

Weiss put her speed to use Saturday. The No. 1 doubles win solidified the duo’s strength during the Sailors 5-2 team victory against a talented Columbine squad (6-1 record).



Toy and Weiss first played together last weekend at the Mullen Tournament. They beat Mullen, a squad heavily favored to win the 4A state championship.

The pair carried confidence into its match Saturday.



“That was a very good doubles team they just beat. They really move well together and make plays at the net,” Aragon said.

“We played smart and placed the ball well. The net play is probably the best part of our game,” Toy said.

The most exciting play of the afternoon came during the No. 2 doubles match. Down 5-2, Anya Salzgeber and Rebecca Timmerman rallied late to win two games, but they could not stop Columbine’s Emily Selindh and Alyssa Faustino after they got the service back, ultimately losing the set, 6-4, and the match, 6-2, 6-4.

Timmerman said she had trouble getting to some of the balls because of an injury from a “bikini long-boarding incident” the week before, though she did not underrate Faustino’s aggressive and relentless play.

“Her serve was scary weird. You would think it was going out, then it would go in. We had trouble playing it,” Timmerman said after the loss, her first match paired with Salzgeber.

“My No. 2 doubles are playing great. They just lost a tight one to Chatfield, who has yet to lose in our Jefferson County league and could easily win 5A state,” Columbine coach Marshall Carpenter said.

Cori Evans and Kerry Enochs had a tough No. 3 doubles match for the Sailors but came out on top, 6-3, 6-2.

After a rough opening loss, the senior tandem of Tara King and Heidi Hillenbrand won its No. 4 doubles match, 6-1, 6-3.

“They really took control of their match,” Aragon said.

“We started out horrible but then won our next six games. I think Tara and I have a great chance of placing at state,” Hillenbrand said.

On the singles side, Natalie Nichols’ No. 3 loss, 6-3, 6-0, to Columbine’s Lindsay Horn–becker was the only downside to otherwise lopsided singles matches.

With sophomore Lisa Floyd’s dominating performance (6-3, 6-0) against Brittney Krause, it was hard to believe Krause had previously gone unbeaten in 5A matches. “I felt good setting up points and moving her around,” Floyd said.

Floyd, who has not lost a set to a Western Slope regional opponent, is having a promising undefeated season that should place her in a high seed at the regional tournament May 4 and 5 in Grand Junction.

Breanne Murray also beat her No. 1 singles opponent, 6-2, 6-0.

The victory gives Aragon’s team a 4-2 overall record as it prepares for regionals. The Sailors will face Aspen and Roaring Fork in away matches April 29. A match at Kent Denver is tentatively planned for next week.


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