How Sweep It Is!

For the first time this season our tennis teams managed a sweep! Both our boys and girls teams won easily. The girls even managed a win while forfeiting #6 singles and #3 doubles, because Ashton Summers and Caroline Daugherty were both absent. None of the girls who played lost. The boys won five of six singles matches and took another in doubles. I was able to give George and Dylan the day off in doubles, and Russ Rebennack and Alex Shufford (pictured below) played admirably in their first real match together at #3. They lost 8-5, but in order to get the matches done a little sooner, they actually played Lookout Valley's #2 team.



It's great to win, but it is even better to improve. I know our kids can get a little discouraged when they look at our won/loss record, but here's positive proof that we have improved: Last year our boys got blown out by Lookout Valley 7-0. Christian Eaves beat George Ozborn 6-0 (we played abbreviated pro sets due to the weather), today he was up 3-1, although Eaves didn't allow him to win another game, the score looks more lopsided than it was. I think he lost three games in row at deuce. A couple of points here or there, and George pulls this match out. Corey Phillips beat a guy today 8-3 that he lost to a year ago 6-3. Huge improvement. The guy Dylan Millwood beat today 8-4 beat our #2 last year 6-3 (Dylan played #4 in the match last year!). I am really proud of this bunch.

Here are the results:

Hixson Girls Defeat Lookout Valley Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Allison Cowart (H) def. Torey Yates 8-6
Candace Cline (H) def. Hope Gibson 8-1
Whitney Clack (H) def. Jessi Lowrance 8-1
Torey Hart (H) def. Hayley Brown 8-0
Kayla Morgan (H) def. Coti San 8-5
Brooklynn Burleson (LV) won by forfeit

Girls Doubles:

Cline/Clack (H) def. Gibson/Brown 8-1
Cowart/Hart (H) def. Burleson/Charis Dowell 8-2
San/Lawrence (LV) won by forfeit

Hixson Boys defeat Lookout Valley Boys 6-3

Boys Singles:

Christian Eaves (LV) def. George Ozborn 8-3
Dylan Millwood (H) def. Clayton Fuller 8-4
Corey Phillips (H) def. David Jones 8-3
Eric Barr (H) def. Mathew Dillard 8-1
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Sam Hartley 8-3
Jae Yoo (H) def. Katyen Tweedy 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Eaves/Fuller (LV) def. Phillips/Barr 8-1
Craft/Yoo (H) def. Hartley/Tweedy 8-0
Jones/Dillard (LV) def. Russ Rebennack/Alex Shuford 8-5

Up Next: East Hamilton on Monday @ 3:30pm @ the Racquet Club. The weather does not look good, but hopefully we'll get this one in as it is a district match. the boys will have their hands full, but if all my girls show up, we might snag a second "W" in a row!

When it Rains . . .

It pours. We almost got our match with Red Bank in today. Coach Wagner and I had some great help from parents and players alike, and we did manage to finish some of the matches, but not quite all of them. All the matches that finished will count, and we've got the scores of the matches that were halted due to the second rain/hail shower. Those matches will resume when we meet a week from Wednesday on May 5th at the Racquet Club-- start time: 3:30 pm.

Don't forget, uniform money must be paid by Friday! Give your checks made payable to Hixson High School to Mrs. Carr (the school bookkeeper): $40 for the boys and $60 for the girls.

Up next: Lookout Valley on Friday at the Racquet Club. Lookout Valley is no longer in our district, and I've not heard much about them. I would expect them to be pretty good on the boys and girls side-- but not super.

Boys Win, Girls Forfeit.

With four girls missing, including my top three, I decided to forfeit our district match today on the girls' side against Chattanooga Central. Apologies to the three who were ready to play, but I didn't think it was fair to the opposing team to have them show up and play a skeleton crew.

I warned the boys yesterday that Central would be eager to avenge their early season district loss against us, and that they should expect every match today to be tough. Although we ended up winning by the same score, 6-3, I thought the Purple Pounders played much better this time around, and with no seniors in their top six, should be quite a bit better next year.




Lots of bright spots on the day, but in particular I'd like to single out Corey Phillips (#3 seed singles, #2 Doubles-- pictured above) and Jae Yoo (#6 seed singles, #3 Doubles-- pictured below), who were both perfect on the day in singles and doubles.



Here are the results:

Hixson Boys Defeat Central Boys 6-3

Singles:

John Mitchell (C) def. George Ozborn 8-1
Dylan Millwood (H) def. Ethan Hickman 8-2
Corey Phillips (H) def. Coalton Mulkey 8-4
Jeff Chastain (C) def. Eric Barr 8-5
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Aaron Sanchez 8-5
Jae Yoo (H) def. Tyler Cranford 8-4

Doubles:

Mitchell/Chastain (C) def. Ozborn/Millwood 8-3
Phillips/Barr (H) def. Hickman/Mulkey 8-4
Craft/Yoo (H) def. Sanchez/Cranford 8-4

Up Next: The Red Bank Lions come to the Racquet Club on Tuesday. I believe their girls are still undefeated in district play, so we'll have our hands full on that front. We narrowly lost on the boys side last time, and I really think we can beat them this time around, assuming we all show up ready to play!

What a Week: CSAS, Rhea County & the Champions Tourney.

I know I've mentioned it before, but the Spring is a really busy time for me, so I am just now getting around to making a post even though we had two matches last week and the Champions Club Invitational. The only reason I've got time to do this is because our match with East Hamilton today was rained out. All the indoor courts were booked at the Racquet Club, so I got an impromptu afternoon off. I think the teams could use the day as well. We'll get back to it tomorrow.

It seems like a year ago, but a week ago today, we traveled back to Warner Park to play two very good CSAS squads for the second time this season. This match was supposed to be held at the Racquet Club, but our courts were still not ready. Coach Pate, a truly class act in high school athletics, was gracious enough to let us play at his home courts in lieu of rescheduling the date. Whitney Clack and Jonathan Craft were the only bright spots for either team, as CSAS showed why they are one of the teams to beat in our upcoming District tournament. Here are the results:

CSAS Girls Def. Hixson Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Kayla Kelly (C) def. Allison Cowart 8-0
Ahmee Kelly (C) def. Candace Cline (H) 8-2
Erin Mournier (C) def. Ashton Summers (H) 8-1
Whitney Clack (H) def. Maria Alley (C) 8-4
Cindy Ormaza (C) def. Torey Hart (H) 8-0
Hannah Byrne (C) def. Kayla Morgan (H) 8-0

Girls Doubles:

Mournier/Alley (C) def. Cowart/Summers (H) 8-5
Cline/Clack (H) def. Ormaza/Byrne (C) 8-4
Kelsey Williams/Allie Emmett (C) def. Hart/Morgan (H) 8-2

CSAS Boys def. Hixson Boys 6-3

Boys Singles:

Jackson Lenoir (C) def. George Ozborn (H) 8-2
Brian Wright (C) def. Dylan Millwood (H) 8-5
Alex Evers (C) def. Eric Barr (H) 8-3
Raja Moughrabi (C) def. Corey Phillips 8-2
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Raymond Kim 8-1
Colby Kendrick (C)def. Jae Yoo 8-4


Boys Doubles:

Evers/Moughrabi (C) def. Ozborn/Millwood (H) 8-6
Barr/Phillips (H) def. Kim/Chandler Custer (C) 8-4
Yoo/Craft (H) def. Calvin Bibbs-Lee/Justin Botting 8-7 (7-4)



Two days, later we took a trip up Hwy 27 to Dayton to play our second match versus Rhea County. The Boys and Girls took their lumps, but I felt everyone played well. Most impressive was Russ Rebennack (pictured above), who got his first varsity start in singles. He nearly pulled off the upset, losing 7-2 in a tiebreaker. Dylan Millwood (pictured below) also played a fantastic match, albeit a losing one. He too lost in a tiebreaker. This was the second meeting of the year for these two, and last time Rhea county's Jake Ricketts beat Dylan soundly 8-1. Nice show of improvement!



Here are the results:

Rhea County Girls defeat Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singls:

Ashley Stewart def. Allison Cowart 8-2
Kelsey Fredricks def. Candace Cline 8-2
Kaylee Cochran def. Ashton Summers 8-1
Kaylee Argo def. Whitney Clack 8-1
Addison Edwards def. Torey Hart 8-1
Kara McClendon def. Kayla Morgan 9-0

Girls Doubles:

Stewart/McClendon def. Cowart/Summers 8-5
Fredricks/Cochran def. Cline/Clack 8-1
Argo/Edwards def. Hart/Morgan 8-0

Rhea County Boys Defeat Hixson Boys 7-2

Boys Singles:

Dylan Coulter (RC) def. George Ozborn 8-3
Jake Ricketts (RC) def. Dylan Millwood 9-8 (7-0)
Wesley Sanders (RC) def. Corey Phillips 8-2
Jacob Davis (RC) def. Eric Barr 8-6
Zach Madewell (RC) def. Jae Yoo 8-1
Evan Smith (RC) def. Russ Rebennack 9-8 (7-2)

Boys Doubles:

Ozborn/Millwood (H) def. Davis/Smith 8-4
Phillips/Barr (H) def. Kyle Runyon/Austin Patton 8-4
Mitchell Barry/Ben Ross (RC) def. Yoo/Rebennack 8-5



Bright and early the next day, on Friday, we all gathered for our first invitational tournament since I took the job here at Hixson. The Champions Club (pictured above) has been hosting this tournament for several years. It is my understanding that Hixson may have taken part in it before, but it has been several years since our last appearance.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the tournament, there are two draws: A & B. The eight teams in the A Divison play regular single elimination tournament for each seed with a consolation draw (with every player guaranteed three singles matches and every doubles team is guaranteed three matches as well). The level of play is generally higher in the A Division, and it is a goal of mine to get our teams to that level. The B Divison was comprised of four teams and used a round robin format for each seed. Our Girls team got to play three teams they'd never faced before in Walker Valley, McMinn and Grace Academy. Our Boys were not quite so lucky, as they got to play only one new team in Grace Academy, along with CSAS and Rhea County (can you believe that?).

Too many matches for me to post all the scores, so I'll just mention that the girls finished third out of the four teams in their group and the boys finished in the cellar. I don't like to make excuses, but I'm pretty sure both CSAS and Rhea County were better than a couple of the teams in the A Division, and I was missing one of my top six. All things considered, I'm pretty happy about the experience gained by both my teams. I saw some amazing play from just about everybody on the team. Next year they will know what to expect, and we'll certainly be better prepared for our District Tourney in a couple of weeks.

Also, I would like to publicly thank Richard Millwood (Dylan's dad) for treating everyone who played in the tourney to a post-tournament dinner at Ci-Ci's Pizza. After playing six matches in two days, the kids certainly deserved it!

Up Next: Central at Lakeside Park. Our second match versus this District opponent. Our boys need to be focused, they won the first time, but I'm sure the Pounders would like to get a little revenge. Our girls nearly won with only five girls in the line-up. A sweep is possible!