The odds were stacked against Corey Patton Lossner even before she stepped onto the tennis court to play in the No. 2 singles final of the Class 4A state tournament.

Her opponent was Austynn Crocker, a talented and skilled Lewis-Palmer sophomore who had beaten Lossner in two previous meetings this season. In the end, however, Lossner overcame those odds -- but only after a nearly 3 1/2-hour, back-and-forth battle on a warm May 12 at Pueblo City Park.

It was the last match to wrap up at the state tournament.

"I felt like I was capable of beating her," Lossner said. "I went out with a positive mindset and really focused on being up and being intense when I needed to be and just trying to get myself pumped up and understand that I could win the match if I wanted to."

The senior became a two-time defending state champion. It was a bittersweet accomplishment, though, considering that the Indians fell just short of a 10th straight state title and settled for a runner-up finish behind a deep Niwot team.

Nonetheless, the championship run helped Lossner land The Gazette Preps 2018 Girls' Tennis Singles Peak Performer of the Year.

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"Obviously, it'd have been great if all of us won as a team again, like last year, and I know the girls that didn't end up pulling off the wins were a little bit bummed," she said. "I was a little bit bummed. We can't take any of it for granted. Placing second place is pretty incredible. I'm just proud of how hard we worked to get there."

The Indians went 2 for 5 in the final matches.

Lossner's coach, Dave Adams, called her 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Crocker a "major accomplishment," especially when the two battled for several hours. And Lossner managed to bounce back after losing in the regional title match against Crocker.

And now, Lossner is focused on her future.

She arrived at Cheyenne Mountain two years ago, as a transplant from Hawaii. She was born in Delta, but her family moved to Maui to be closer to relatives. They returned to Colorado to have more opportunities for Lossner to land college tennis scholarships.

So far, she has been offered to play at Whitman College and Boise State. There's another college in Colorado that could possibly give her a chance to compete at the next level. In other words, the Hawaii-to-Colorado move has been a success.

The odds, it seems, are in her favor.

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