Los Alamos tennis teams dominate district play, varsity boys sweep through group stage

Los Alamos High School’s tennis program turned district weekend into a full-system statement, with varsity and junior varsity teams all producing results that point to more than one strong roster. The boys finished first in the district group stage, the girls finished second, and the junior varsity squads kept the pressure on by winning and placing high in Albuquerque. For a school heading toward finals week and then the state tournament, that kind of layered success suggests the program’s health runs deeper than a single hot lineup.

The boys were the clearest force in the field. Los Alamos won every district match over the weekend, rolling past Española Valley High School and Taos High School by 9-0 scores and not dropping a set in either matchup. The girls also took care of Taos in a 9-0 sweep, then ran into a tougher Española Valley team and fell 8-1. That still left the Hilltoppers in strong position, with the girls slated to face St. Michael’s in the district quarterfinals and the boys set to meet the winner of St. Michael’s and Taos in the semifinals.

The result matters because it fits a season-long pattern of depth and continuity. On senior night against St. Michael’s, Los Alamos had already shown its top end, with the boys winning 9-0 and the girls winning 7-2 behind seniors Michael Witkowski, Olivia Hamilton and Emily Xu. Earlier, the Hilltoppers won their group at the Academy Invite in Albuquerque with 9-0 wins over Rio Rancho, Eldorado and Santa Fe Prep before falling to La Cueva in the championship match. La Cueva was led by last year’s 5A singles champion, Ketan Garg.

The pipeline was just as visible below varsity. The JV girls won the Albuquerque tournament without dropping a match, while the JV boys reached the final before losing to Albuquerque Academy. Last year, coach Travis Gibson said the JV groups had shown “tremendous growth” over the season, and this spring’s results backed up that assessment. For Los Alamos families, the significance is clear: the program is not merely surviving a district run, it is building a roster structure that can keep producing when the pressure rises.

That broader strength arrives just ahead of the New Mexico Activities Association’s 2026 state tennis championships, scheduled for May 6-9 at Jerry Cline Tennis Complex and Albuquerque Academy/Sierra Vista. If district play is the measuring stick, Los Alamos enters the state stage with both immediate contenders and a development pipeline already in place.