The Aspen boys’ varsity tennis team is feeling confident.  And for good reason. Gary Quandt, the returning varsity boys’ tennis head coach, doesn’t mince words when describing his team’s recent performance. He feels equally enthusiastic about finishing strong in the second half of the fall season.

“While the team is currently quite satisfied with their strong start, we’re really gearing up for states,” Quandt said.

“I coached two high school teams in my home state of Oregon, “ said Quandt. “I really enjoy working with these kids.  I’m expecting to win regionals and take all eleven varsity players to states.”

The team started the season energetically with a 2nd place finish at the Smokey Hill Tournament in Denver.  Junior Henry Godfrey won the tournament for 2nd singles.  The 1st doubles team, consisting of  team captains Gordon Carr and Dylan Behr, both seniors, also came in first place.

“We really performed well in Denver against teams that play year round. It felt good, “ said Co-Captain Gordon Carr.

The team also put in a solid performance in the Western Slope Tournament, finishing 8th of 16 participating teams. Subsequently,  the tennis team traveled to Vail for a duel match against Vail and Steamboat Springs.  The squad beat Steamboat 5-2 and demolished the Vail team 6-1.  In junior singles standout Henry Godfrey’s words,” we were playing our A game.”

As the AHS varsity tennis team heads into the most competitive part of the season, Quandt hopes the boys do as well or better than last year’s seventh place standing at states.   From October 2nd to the 4th, the team participated in the regional tournament in Grand Junction but results were not available at press time.

David Mondry,  co-captain Carr concurred with Coach Quandt’s prediction for success.“We have our work cut out for us, but we have been training as hard as humanly possible. Our team keeps getting better and I think we have a good chance of sweeping regionals and placing pretty well in states.”

Senior varsity player Will Reagan echoed Carr’s enthusiasm. “We are a very strong team this year, with excellent players in every one of our positions. We plan to win regionals.”

Stay tuned as the AHS boys’ tennis squad prepares to take on regionals and the state tournament in Pueblo in October. ”We can go all the way this year,” says star junior Andy Vernier. “We just need to keep our eye on the ball.”