We've Reached the Mid Point.

Kayla Morgan (above) teamed up with Torey Hart (below) to win their match in doubles against the Owls of Ooltewah.





Well we've played seven matches and we have six matches plus two tournaments to go. Whew! I realize our record does not indicate much improvement, but I can see it. Slowly but surely, these kids are starting to buy into the things I've been teaching them this year. I am super-excited about meeting up with some of these teams again to really gauge how much we've accomplished this season.

Our last match of the first half of the season started with a nightmarish trip up I-75 to the Ooltewah exit. It wasn't quite rush hour, but there was a lot of traffic, compounded by four lanes being bottle-necked into two lanes a couple of miles from our exit. Coach Buchanan completely understood, and he allowed our players some time to warm up properly, even though most of our team didn't show up until right around our 3:30pm start time.

Due to the late start and a few close matches, I didn't leave the courts till nearly 7:30pm. I did allow most of the team to head home early, and after the finish of #3 Girls Doubles, I was sorry I did. What a match! Torey Hart and Kayla Morgan (both of whom learned how to play tennis this year) were in a battle. Down five games to three, these two clawed their way back winning five of the next six games to win 8-6! More importantly, they did it the right way. They were being aggressive at the net. They were covering the open court. They were keeping the ball away from the opposing net player. All the things I preach in practice-- the match even ended with Torey (who was playing at the net) putting a short ball right in the belly of the opposing net player. She immediately apologized, and when I asked her about it, she said: "I was aiming at her feet." Perfect!

It was the only win we got against a very good Ooltewah team, and I couldn't have been more proud!



Allison Cowart (pictured above) almost pulled off a huge upset against Katie Woodham at the #1 Girls Singles spot. I've known Katie for a few years now, and I have never seen her that flustered. Allison's backhand slice was giving Katie all she could handle. Katie prevailed in the tiebreaker, but Allison played one heckuva match!

Here are the results:

Ooltewah Girls def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Girls Singles:

Katie Woodham (O) def. Allison Cowart, 9-8 (8-6)
Jessica Crum (O) def. Candace Cline, 8-4
Hollie Whitener (O) def. Ashton Summers, 8-0
Holly Humberger (O) def. Whitney Clack, 8-4
Wendy Rogers (O) def. Torey Hart, 8-1
Kayla Leach (O) def. Kayla Morgan, 8-5

Girls Doubles:

Woodham/Whitener (O) def. Cowart/Summers, 8-1
Crum/Humberger (O) def. Cline/Clack, 8-3
Hart/Morgan (H) def. Rogers/Leach, 8-6

Ooltewah Boys def. Hixson Boys 9-0

Boys Singles:

Caleb Friddell (O) def. Dylan Millwood, 8-3
Jack Wongmanee (O) def. George Ozborn, 8-4
Chris Stiner (O) def. Corey Phillips, 8-1
Kevin Squires (O) def. Eric Barr, 8-1
Bryson Lype (O) def. Jonathan Craft, 8-2
Nick Grenier (O) def. Jae Yoo, 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Friddell/Wongmanee (O) def. Millwood/Ozborn, 8-2
Stiner/Squires (O) def. Phillips/Barr, 8-0
Lype/Grenier (O) def. Craft/Yoo, 8-6

Up next: Spring Break! We've got 13 days before our next match which will be a home match versus CSAS. For those of you staying in town, be on the look out for some optional practices. The first one is slated for 9:00am on Friday at a court to be determined.