Trojans, Tornadoes & Troupers

Wow, it seems like half a year has passed since last I posted. I apologize for that. Let me catch up!

We played Soddy Daisy on the Thursday before Easter. Those matches went pretty much the way I expected. It was my first meeting with our nearest, non-district, geographical rival. On the Boys' side, the Trojans lost five seniors from last year's team (one of which earned a scholarship to play at Tennessee Wesleyan), so I knew they were in rebuilding mode. Our upperclassmen-heavy lineup easily dispatched their inexperienced team 8-1. With the match win already secured, Jae Yoo once again offered to sit out of the lineup to allow someone else to get some varsity experience. Freshman, Nathan Terrell got his first varsity singles win at the #6 spot.

It was completely opposite on the Girls' side. With only one freshman in their top six, Soddy is one of the toughest public school teams in our area. Our girls were no match, especially playing without our #3 Seed-- Michelle Phillips, was out sick. Kudos to Lydia Lindsey for coming on short notice ready to play a very tough opponent. It was her first varsity singles match!

Here are the results:

Soddy Daisy Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Callie Brannon def. Candace Cline 8-2
Kaitlyn Oscai def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Alex Schafer def. Haylee Gossett 8-3
Olivia Holden def. Corynne Schannuth 8-0
Jessica Powell def. Abby O'Rear 8-0
Abigail Ellis def. Lydia Lindsey 8-0

Girls Doubles:

Oscai/Schafer def. Cline/Clack 8-4
Brannon/Powell def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-1
Holden/Ellis def. O'Rear/Lindsey 8-0


Hixson Boys def. Soddy Daisy Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Jordan Crowe (SD) def. Dylan Millwood 8-4
George Ozborn def. James Acuff 8-2
Cory Phillips def. Dillon Keef 9-8 (9-7)
Myles Goforth def. Wes Ford 8-6
Eric Barr def. Tyler Johns 8-2
Nathan Terrell def. Justin Bennett 8-1

Boys Doubles:

Ozborn/Phillips def. Crowe/Acuff 8-6
Millwoood/Goforth def. Ford/Johns 8-2
Barr/Yoo def. Keef/Bennett 8-3


After the long weekend, things got a little crazy here in the Chattanooga area. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who were adversely affected by this terrible storm system. We had to cancel two district matches due to the storm-- we will try to make up Red Bank and CSAS early next week.

After two days of good weather we did manage to get our JV match taken care of on Signal Mountain. I greatly appreciate everyone who came out to play and support our young players. We had eight girls (Michell and Haylee came up to play for the JV) and two boys show up to play on a beautiful day. Everyone got a singles and a doubles match. Though we did not manage to score any victories, everyone got some valuable experience. Coach Dressler has a very deep team at Signal Mountain, none of the players we played today were in his top 9 and several were eighth-graders! Still, the only difference between those girls and boys and our's is playing time. His players know that it takes a year-round commitment to get better at tennis. That's the lesson I hope our players learned today.

Here are the results:

Signal Mtn JV Girls def. Hixson JV Girls 12-0

Girls Singles:

Sydney Adcock def. Michelle Phillips 8-3
Mary Grace Napoliton def. Haylee Gossett 8-2
Anna Killen Cameron def. Emily Davis 8-3
Catherine Agnew def. Kindall Billingsley 8-5
Katie Thompson def. Meagan Dagnan 8-0
Audrey Butler def. Lydia Lindsey 8-5
Katie Thompson def. Cicely McCoy 6-1
Audrey Butler def. Dista Rahyu 6-0

Girls doubles:

Adcock/Napoliton def. Phillips/Gossett 8-1
Cameron/Thompson def. Davis/Billingsley 8-1
Agnew/Butler def. Dagnan/Lindsey 8-5
Cameron/Thompson def. McCoy/Rahyu 8-1

Boys Singles:

Micajah Tucker def. Nathan Terrell 8-5
Jason Morris def. Kaleb Billinglsey 8-3

Boys Doubles:

Tucker/Morris def. Terrell/Billingsley 8-6


Up Next: Tentatively: April 2, Monday @ HOME vs. CSAS. If we have school on Monday and if the weather cooperates, we will play CSAS. Our girls should win this time, if everyone in our top six shows up. Our boys have to play better than they have thus far this season to have a chance. No practice or playing over the last five days does not make me very confident going in to this one.

Wildcats Swat Yellow Jackets!

Nearly a complete win today for the boys and girls teams. The girls did not lose a match, so I thought I'd feature their team picture. The boys only lost one match at #1 Doubles.

Here are the results:

Hixson Girls def. Lookout Valley Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Candace Cline def. Torey Yates 8-1
Whitney Clack def. Hope Gibson 8-1
Michelle Phillips def. Hayley Brown 8-1
Haylee Gossett def. Cotie San 8-1
Corynne Schannuth def. Jessie Lowrance 8-4
Abby O'Rear def. Mariah Hoffer 8-0

Girls Doubles:

Cline/Clack def. San/Lowrance 8-1
Gossett/Schannuth def. Brown/Caitlyn Dowell 8-0
Phillips/O'Rear def. Hoffer/Jessica Thacker 8-0

Hixson Boys def. Lookout Valley Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Christian Eaves 9-7
George Ozborn (H) def. David Jones 8-4
Cory Phillips (H) def. Matthew Dillard 8-3
Myles Goforth (H) def. Sam Hartley 8-1
Eric Barr (H) def. Will Benefield 8-0
Jae Yoo (H) def. Josh Hickman 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Eaves/Jones (LV) def. Ozborn/Phillips 8-3
Millwood/Goforth (H) def. Dillard/Hartley 8-1
Barr/Yoo (H) def. Benefield/Hickman 8-0

Records:

Hixson Girls: 4-8 (Overall); 2-4 (District)
Hixson Boys: 6-5 (Overall; 3-3 (District)

Up Next: Thursday, April 21, Soddy Daisy @ HOME. It will be my first year since taking over the program that we meet this geographical rival. The Soddy boys team is in a bit of a rebuilding year, but the girls are solid.

Our Trip to Dayton.

I think the best thing that happened on our trip to Dayton this year, is we got a little team bonding time at our first joint team dinner of the year. I really thought our boys had a chance to win this one, but it was not in the cards. I knew the girls were in for a tough day. Five of the lady Golden Eagles are either juniors or seniors. They are an experienced and well-coached team.

In the end, this is a non-district match, and a great opportunity for our kids to play some good players.

Here are the results:

Rhea County Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Kelci Fredrick def. Candace Cline 8-1
Kaylee Argo def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Caylee Cochrane def. Michelle Phillips 8-0
Addison Edwards def. Corynne Schannuth 8-1
Gina Reed def. Kayla Morgan 8-0
Melanie Johnson def. Abby O'Rear 8-1

Girls Doubles:

Fredrick/Argo def. Cline/Clack 8-1
Cochrane/Reed def. Phillips/Schannuth 8-2
Edwards/Johnston def. Morgan/O'Rear 8-0

Rhea County Boys def. Hixson Boys 5-4
Boys Singles:

Dylan Coulter (RC) def. Dylan Millwood 8-6
Nick McWerter (RC) def. George Ozborn 8-4
Zach Madewell (RC) def. Cory Phillips 8-2
Myles Goforth (H) def. Evan Smith 8-2
Eric Barr (H) def. Austin Patton 9-7
Kyle Runyon (RC) def. Jae Yoo 8-4

Boys Doubles:

Coulter/McWerter (RC) def. Millwood/Goforth 8-1
Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Madewell/Smith 8-5
Barr/Yoo (H) def. Patton/Runyan 8-4

Records:

Hixson Girls: 3-8 (Overall); 2-4 (District)
Hixson Boys: 5-5 (Overall; 3-3 (District)

Up Next: Tuesday, April 19, Lookout Valley @ Home. Both the boys and girls got a win last year, I expect the same this year.

Tough Loss.

Okay, let me just say this is not a sour grapes post. Hats off to the East Hamilton boys for pulling off another nail-biter. Once again our boys came up one win shy of a victory. Interestingly, we did not sweep doubles this time. Jae Yoo (pictured above) had a stunning victory at #6 singles today, 8-6. Stunning because the last time we played the Hurricanes, Jae lost to the same opponent 8-0. I don't give very many hugs, but I gave Jae a big one after that win. It was a gritty and gutsy performance. He had lost at #3 doubles, against East Hamilton's #4 & #2 seeds playing together at #3 doubles, and I told him I needed him to win at singles for us to have a chance. He delivered. My #2 doubles team, George and Cory, trounced two East Hamilton players that aren't in their top six (draw your own conclusion there). Things were a little more interesting at #1 doubles, but our boys (Dylan and Myles) prevailed in a tiebreak. Still with three singles matches on the court, all we needed was one win. The Hurricanes slammed that door shut.

On the girls side of the house, we improved a bit from our showing last time. Whitney again managed to get a win at #2 singles. We got a surprise win at #3 doubles. Abby O'Rear (filling in for Kayla Morgan) and Michelle Phillips beat the same two girls that beat my #2 girls team last time we played at Standifer Gap. Again, I think all my girls battled today against a very talented team.

Here are the results:

East Hamilton Girls def. Hixson Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Taylor Johnson (EH) def. Candace Cline 8-3
Whitney Clack (H) def. Hilleary Chandler 8-6
Abigail Ware (EH) def. Michelle Phillips 8-4
Katie Loftin (EH) def. Haylee Gossett 8-4
Kayla Dyar (EH) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-2
Jessica Peters (EH) def. Kayla Morgan 8-2

Girls Doubles:

Johnson/Chandler (EH) def. Cline/Clack 8-2
Ware/Loftin (EH) def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-1
Phillips/O'Rear (H) def. Carly Jones/Jordan Kaset 8-4

East Hamilton Boys def. Hixson Boys 5-4

Boys Singles:

Daniel Jung (EH) def. Dylan Millwood 8-2
Bailey Lenoir (EH) def. George Ozborn 8-5
Ryan Williamson (EH) def. Cory Phillips 8-5
Clark Templeton (EH) def. Myles Goforth 8-4
Eric Barr (H) def. Randsom Mark 8-6
Jae Yoo (H) def. Tej Dhond 8-6

Boys Doubles:

Millwood/Goforth (H) def. Jung/Williamson 9-8 (7-4)
Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. David Templeton/River Mark 8-1
Lenoir/C. Templeton (EH) def. Barr/Yoo 8-1

Records:

Hixson Girls: 3-7 (Overall); 2-4 (District)
Hixson Boys: 5-4 (Overall); 3-3 (District)

Up Next: Thursday, April 14 @ Rhea County. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but the Rhea County girls are going to be tough. This is a bit of a down year for Golden Eagles on the boy's side. If we play the way I know we can, they should come home with a win.

Wildcats Own the Owls!

I am not going to fib. I realize this is a down year for Ooltewah, but this one felt good today. We have played the Owls in each of the three seasons I've been head coach at Hixson. Since they are not in our district (they are a AAA school) we only face them once per year. In our first two meetings, we won a grand total of 3 individual matches-- Boys and Girls. Let me put that another way: Ooltewah 33, Hixson 3. Not to put another exclamation on how dominant the Owls have been, but those three wins we got were generally against players not in their top six, once the score was comfortably in their favor. Today, we evened up those numbers a bit. A complete victory for the girls, 9-0, and the boys did pretty well losing only two matches. Neither the Boys or Girls lost a doubles match! Nice win for Dylan Millwood (pictured above) at #1 Singles. Meanwhile, our #1 girl, Candace Cline, is on a nice little three match winning streak in singles.

Here are the results:

Hixson Girls def. Ooltewah Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Candace Cline def. Izabela Zduner 8-2
Whitney Clack def. Kayla Leach 8-1
Michelle Phillips def. Rachael Faulkner 9-7
Haylee Gossett def. Samantha Whitson 8-6
Corynne Schannuth def. Sara Davidson 8-4
Kayla Morgan def. Beth Burnette 8-5

Girls Doubles:

Clack/Cline def. Zdnuer/Leach 8-5
Gossett/Schannuth def. Faulkner/Davidson 8-4
Phillips/Morgan def. Whitson/Burnette 8-3

Hixson Boys def. Ooltewah Boys 7-2


Boys Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Chris Stiner 8-2
George Ozborn (H) def. Bryson Lype 9-8 (8-6)
Kyle Molhusen (O) def. Cory Phillps 8-3
Richard Huyuh (O) def. Myles Goforth 8-6
Eric Barr (H) def. Brady Matthews 8-4
Jae Yoo (H) def. Jared Moore 9-7

Boys Doubles:

Millwood/Goforth (H) def. Stiner/Lype 8-3
Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Molhusen/Huyuh 8-3
Barr/Yoo (H) def. Matthews/Moore 8-3

Records:

Hixson Girls: 3-6 (Overall); 2-3 (District)
Hixson Boys: 5-3 (Overall); 3-2 (District)

Up Next: Tuesday, April 12 vs. East Hamilton @ HOME. What can I say? I don't think there is a match on our schedule that is more crucial to us than this one on the boys' side. The Hurricanes nipped us 5-4, in our first meeting a couple of weeks ago. We need to be at our best tomorrow. The girls are in for a tough one, as the Lady Hurricanes are unbeaten in our district, and they thoroughly dismantled our team 8-1 in our first meeting.

Can't Beat the Heat.

Another first for me today in my short tenure at Hixson. We had our first Junior Varsity Match. It was just the girls, but I can't help but think we've come a long way baby. Last year I was forfeiting matches because I couldn't get six girls to show up for varsity matches, and today I had seven show up for a JV match.

Unfortunately, it was a very hot day. I think it felt even worse because we've had such cool temperatures recently. I had two girls who suffered some mild, heat related symptoms. I'll take a few minutes out of our practice time next week to discuss hydration. Hopefully, this won't happen again. Due to the heat, some of the singles matches were shortened to six games.

So a lot of girls got some much needed experience today-- seven to be exact. Technically, I have eight girls on the Junior Varsity team. Two of them, however, were unable to play due to prior commitments. Big thanks to Corynne Schannuth for filling in on short notice for Dista Rahyu. Corynne plays #5 on the varsity, but played #1 for the JV today. I needed seven players, because that's how many I thought I would have when I talked to Coach Webb earlier in the week.

So playing a program as deep as CCS, I hope my girls realize just how much they have to learn. I saw some good playing from just about all of my girls, but I also saw quite a few cringe-worthy moments. We'll talk about it next practice (Wednesday) and see what we can do to get better.

Here are the results:

CCS JV Girls def. Hixson JV Girls 10-0

Singles:

Kruesi Brock def. Corynne Schannuth 6-4
Sarah Smith def. Abby O'Rear 8-2
Candace Reagan def. Amanda Garletts 3-0 (retired)
Kathryn Bosshardt def. Lydia Lindsey 6-1
Beverly Samples def. Kindall Billingsley 8-2
Merces Reynolds def. Cicely McCoy 6-1
Katheryn Hoffecker def. Meagan Dagnan 8-6

Doubles:

Brock/Bosshardt def. Schannuth/O'Rear 8-5
Reagan/Mallory Padgett def. Garletts/Lindsey 8-2
Smith/Samples def. Billinglsey/McCoy 8-1

Up Next for the JV: Saturday, April 23 @ Signal Mountain. Just like CCS, Signal Mountain has a very deep team, it should be another tough one.

Rough Day.

I'm scratching my head a little bit tonight. I fully expected to get a win today from my girls, and we almost pulled it off even while missing my #2 seed. A BIG "Way To Go!" to Abby O'Rear (pictured above) who got two varsity wins for the girls in singles and doubles. Abby found out about two hours before our scheduled match time that she would be playing in the number six slot in singles and the three slot in doubles, and she handled it beautifully. There were a couple of close matches in singles that got away from us, but we still had a chance with our #2 doubles team on the court and Hixson and CSAS tied at 4 wins apiece. Corynne and Haylee lost a match that looks like a blowout on paper (final score 2-8) but it was not for lack of effort. Down 2-5, the next three games all went to deuce. As you may or may not know, we play No-Ad scoring in High School Tennis, so at deuce the next point wins. It could have just as easily been 5-5, then who knows? Instead, the Lady Patriots won those three crucial points and the match was over. I told them that they should get a chance to play the same girls again on April 28. I think they'll be ready to even the score.

On the boys side of things, BIG thank-you to Jae Yoo and Eric Barr for getting a win at #3 doubles and keeping CSAS from scoring a shutout. To be honest, I'm a little excited by the results. Many of the matches were close. This is the defending District 6-A/AA championship team from last year that lost one guy from their top six. I was expecting to get blown out. Heck, our #2 doubles team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as they were up 5-2 before dropping 6 of the next 7 games. George Ozborn and Eric Barr battled ferociously against their opponents in singles. Both of those matches could have gone the other way with a few breaks. I guess my point is, we have three weeks before we see this team again. CSAS is not untouchable. It's up to our players to decide if they are going to close the gap.

Here are the results:

Girls Singles:

Candace Cline (H) def. Maria Ally 8-3
Cindy Omaza (C) def. Michelle Phillips 8-3
Allie Emmett (C) def. Haylee Gossett 8-5
Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Kelsey Williams 8-2
Sadie Bradshaw (C) def. Kayla Morgan 8-6
Abby O'Rear (H) def. Maylasia Burgers 8-3

Girls Doubles:

Ally/Ormaza (C) def. Cline/Phillips 8-6
Emmett/Williams (C) def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-2
Morgan/O'Rear (H) def. Bradshaw/Burgers 8-4

CSAS Boys def. Hixson Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Jackson Lenoir (C) def. Dylan Millwood 8-1
Ian Derthick (C) def. George Ozborn 8-5
Andrew Bell (C) def. Cory Phillips 8-3
Alex Evers (C) def. Myles Goforth 8-4
Raja Moughrabi (C) def. Eric Barr 8-6
Chandler Custer (C) def. Jae Yoo 8-3

Boys Doubles:

Lenoir/Derthick (C) def. Millwood/Goforth 8-3
Bell/Evers (C) def. Ozborn/Phillips 8-6
Barr/Yoo (H) def. Moughrabi/ Kolby Kendrick 8-4

Records:

Hixson Girls: 2-6 (Overall); 2-3 (District)
Hixson Boys: 4-3 (Overall); 3-2 (District)

Up Next: Monday, April 11 Vs. Ooltewah @ HOME. The Owls of Ooltewah always seem to have good team on the boys and girls side. I expect this year to be no different.

Taking Care of Business.

Our second match up with Chattanooga Central this season, and the scores ended up exactly the same. Both the Boys and Girls teams won 7-2 for a nice sweep. Lots of highlights on the day. I'd like to especially single out Dylan Millwood and Myles Goforth who have really started playing good doubles together over the last week or so, and won in the #1 doubles slot today. Really, all the boys are playing very good doubles. Just in case you haven't noticed, we've only lost one doubles match in our last three contests (8-1).

On the girls side, I hate to be a little negative on a day that the Lady Wildcats won seven of nine matches, but honestly, I think we could have beaten Central 9-0. Candace Cline got a good win today. She won 9-7 over a girl who beat her the first time we played the Purple Pounders this season.

In all we had eight players win both their singles and doubles matches, and since Mary Phillips (Cory & Michelle's Mom) took so many awesome pictures today, I thought I'd post pictures of all of my sweepers today. Here they are:


Candace Cline, #1 Singles & #1 Doubles



Michelle Phillips, #3 Singles & #3 Doubles



Haylee Gossett, #4 Singles & #2 Doubles


Kayla Morgan, #6 Singles & #3 Doubles


George Ozborn, #2 Singles & #2 Doubles


Cory Phillips, #3 Singles & #2 Doubles


Myles Goforth, #4 Singles & #1 Doubles


Eric Barr, #5 Singles & #3 Doubles


Jae Yoo, probably would have gotten a sweep today (he won at #3 doubles), but with the overall victory already secured, I asked him if I could sit him down to give some one else some varsity singles experience. True team player!


Here are the results:


Hixson Girls def. Central Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Candace Cline (H) def. Autumn Baker 9-7
Christie Loden (C) def. Whitney Clack 9-7
Michelle Phillips (H) def. Dora Harper 8-4
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Tiffany Murray 8-4
Erin Jones (C) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-6
Kayla Morgan (H) def. Lauren Belcher; 8-4

Girls Doubles:

Cline/Clack (H) def. Baker/Harper 9-7
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Loden/Murray 8-3
Phillips/Morgan (H) def. Jones/Belcher 8-1

Hixson Boys def. Central Boys 7-2

Boys Singles:

John Mitchell (C) def. Dylan Millwood; 8-3
George Ozborn (H) def. Alex Henry 8-4
Cory Phillips (H) def. Jeff Chastain 8-4
Myles Goforth (H) def. Blake Ragsdale 8-3
Eric Barr (H) def. Dylan Cotter 8-6
Walt Baley (C) def. Nathan Terrell 8-6


Boys Doubles:

Millwood/Goforth (H) def. Mitchell/Henry 8-4
Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Chastain/Baley 8-1
Barr/Jae Yoo (H) def. Ragsdale/Cotter 8-3

Records:
Hixson Girls: 2-5 (Overall); 2-2 (District)
Hixson Boys: 4-2 (Overall); 3-1 (District)

Up Next: Thursday, April 7 @ CSAS. There's good news and there's bad news. First the good news. The Lady Patriots seem to be in a rebuilding phase, and if our girls play their best, we should score another district win. The bad news: The defending boys, District 6-A/AA champions graduated one player from last year's lineup and he was their #5 seed. Our work is cut out for us!

Silverdale Girls Take Care of Business.

If you had asked me last Friday, if we would be able to get all four matches in this week, I would have said you were crazy. Seriously, I thought all the courts around here were going to like the one pictured above. With the exception of the boy's match with Silverdale, which was not the weather's fault, we did just that. Whew!

The girls had their best showing of the week today, by getting two wins in doubles. The Lady Seahawks were a little more stingy in singles, and none of our girls managed to win more than four games. Patience is one thing I need to preach next week, and with three days of practice, we will work on it. In fact, I can't think of a facet of the game that we can't improve upon.

Here are the results:

Silverdale Girls def. Hixson Girls 7-2

Singles:

Jessica Christensen (S) def. Candace Cline 8-2
Hannah Menche (S) def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Katie West (S) def. Michelle Phillips 8-2
Roxy Silvasy (S) def. Haylee Gossett 8-3
Molly Burns (S) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-3
Sarah Pardue (S) def. Kayla Morgan 8-0

Doubles:

Cline/Clack (H) def. Christensen/West 8-3
Menche/Silvasy (S) def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-4
Phillips/Morgan (H) def. Kristina Woods/Olivia Seay 8-6

Hixson's Record: 1-5 (1-2)

Up Next: Tuesday, April 5, Chattanooga Central @ Home. Our second and final meeting of the season with this District foe. We managed to sweep Central last time, hopefully we can stay focused and do it again.

Hurricanes Sweep Wildcats.

I'm sure everyone is ready for Spring to get here and stay here. Today was the coldest day of the week by quite a few degrees. I should have saved that snow image I used on Monday for today! Seriously, I would not have been surprised if a few snowflakes had started coming down this afternoon at Standifer Gap.

It's always the toughest to do these recaps when both teams lose, but let's just stick with the bright spots, shall we? First, BIG congratulations to Whitney Clack (pictured above) for getting the girls their first win of the week! 8-1 feels a heckuva lot better than 9-0, which is what we posted on Monday and Tuesday. I'm not going to kid you, when I made this schedule up, I knew this week was going to be tough. I also knew it would be the hardest on the girls. I fully expect this East Hamilton girls team to win our district. I was prepared to see bigger margins of victory in just about every match. Instead, I saw our girls fight. Maybe playing Walker Valley and CCS earlier in the week helped after all.

As for the boys, let me just say that I don't think I've ever been as proud of our doubles play as I was this afternoon. Have we swept double before? Sure. Have we ever swept doubles from a team that on paper seems much better than us? Not since I've been here. I was able to practice with the boys yesterday and I told them, their only chance at beating the Hurricanes was by sweeping the doubles. We had a terrific practice yesterday, and they did exactly that: they gave themselves a chance to beat East Hamilton. One win shy, but we had our chance. Nice day for Eric Barr who was the only player to stay perfect on the day by winning his singles match.


Here are the results:

East Hamilton Girls def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Girls Singles:

Taylor Johnson (EH) def. Candace Cline 8-1
Whitney Clack (H) def. Hilleary Chandler 8-5
Abby Ware (EH) def. Michelle Phillips 8-3
Kayla Dyer (EH) def. Haylee Gossett 8-6
Carly Jones (EH) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-4
Jessica Peters (EH) def. Kayla Morgan 8-4

Girls Doubles:

Johnson/Chandler (EH) def. Cline/Clack 8-0
Jones/Jordan Kaset (EH) def.Gossett/Schannuth 8-3
Ware/Dyer (EH) def. Phillips/Morgan

Records:
Hixson 1-4 (1-2)
East Hamilton

East Hamilton Boys def. Hixson Boys 5-4

Boys Singles:

Daniel Jung (EH) def. Dylan Millwood 8-4
Bailey Lenoir (EH) def. George Ozborn 8-6
Ryan Williamson (EH) def. Cory Phillips 8-5
Clark Templeton (EH) def. Myles Goforth 8-4
Eric Barr (H) def. Randsom Mark 8-3
Tej Dehond (EH) def. Jae Yoo 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Jung/Lenoir 8-6
Millwood/Goforth (H) def. River Mark/David Templeton 8-6
Barr/Yoo (H) def. C. Templeton/ Matthew Sayne 9-8 (7-5)

Records:
Hixson 3-2 (2-1)
East Hamilton

Up Next: Friday, April 1 @ HOME versus Silverdale for the GIRLS ONLY. Although this year's Lady Seahawks are not nearly as good as last year's district 5-A/AA champion team (they lost three seniors from their top 6), they still should be a very good team.

Hixson Splits with Walker Valley

The boys got a good non-district win today, and the first against a Triple A school during my tenure at Hixson. Walker Valley, who are in a bit of a rebuilding phase, came in with very talented #1 and #2 seeds. Those two players, both seniors, accounted for all the scoring the Mustangs would accumulate on the day. They both won their singles matches and together they won at #1 doubles. Other than that, it was all Hixson. Myles Goforth, Eric Barr and Jae Yoo (our #4, #5 and #6 seeds) were all perfect on the day winning in singles and doubles, sealing the victory. Big congratulations to Eric Barr (pictured above), who was down 2-6, but ended up coming back to win his singles match in tiebreaker.

The Walker Valley girls came into today's match unbeaten, and they are a very formidable team. Perhaps not as dominating as the CCS squad we faced yesterday, but the Lady Mustangs did not allow any of our girls to get on the scoreboard. File this one under: Growing Pains.

Here are the results:

Walker Valley Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Alyssa McAlister def. Candace Cline 8-1
Wendi Watson def. Whitney Clack 8-5
Reed Jones def. Michelle Phillips 8-3
Casey DeCook def. Haylee Gossett 8-0
Taryn Wilson def. Corynne Schannuth 8-2
Jami Gibson def. Kayla Morgan 8-1

Girls Doubles

DeCook/Gibson def. Cline/Clack 8-4
Watson/Kayla Beckler def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-0
Jones/Wilson def. Phillips/Morgan 8-3


Records:
Walker Valley 3-0 (1-0)
Hixson 1-3 (1-1)

Hixson Boys def. Walker Valley Boys 6-3

Boys Singles:

Ben Watson (WV) def. Dylan Millwood (H) 8-3
Jordan Willautt (WV) def. George Ozborn (H) 8-3
Cory Phillips (H) def. Chase Bynum (WV) 8-6
Myles Goforth (H) def. Jordan Glover (WV) 8-2
Eric Barr (H) def. Joel Childers (WV) 9-8 (7-2)
Jae Yoo (H) def. Trevor Harper (WV) 8-4

Boys Doubles:

Watson/Willautt (WV) def. Ozborn/Phillips (H) 8-4
Millwood/Goforth (H) def. Bynum/Harper (WV) 8-6
Barr/Yoo (H) def. Glover/Harper (WV) 8-4

Records:
Walker Valley 1-2 (1-0)
Hixson 3-1 (2-0)

Up Next: Thursday, March 31 @ East Hamilton. VERY IMPORTANT district match for the boys. The Hurricanes lost their top two seeds from last year, but they still have a solid team. Their girls are much improved from last year's squad, and may be the best girl's team in our district. We've got our work cut out for us!

CCS Charges past Wildcats.

Okay, it wasn't that cold out there today, but it wasn't warm either. We had a very difficult non-district match today at Chattanooga Christian. If you're a college basketball fan, this would be like putting Duke or North Carolina on your non-conference schedule. It rained most this morning, and for awhile there it looked like we might have to cancel. The sun never really poked out, but it was still dry enough by 4:00pm to play, even if it was a little chilly.

Great turnout today from the parents by the way, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who came out to support our team. I know it means a lot to the kids, even if they don't always tell you. For those of you who made it out to CCS, I'm sure you noticed their giant billboards commemorating all of their past glories. Sue Webb has built quite a program over there, and her teams are always competitive. You saw that today, especially on the girls' side. You see, that Duke/North Carolina analogy isn't too far off the mark!

We had to scratch and claw for every point and game we won. Although it is tough to mention a highlight when a team gets shut out, I have got to mention the effort by Michelle Phillips at #3 singles. Although she only managed to win two games, she absolutely gave the CCS girl everything she could handle. A valiant effort against a very tough opponent. All in all, we'll chalk this one up as a learning experience. Remember, we've got three freshmen girls in the top six. Right now they are playing for the future.

On the boys' side, I actually thought we could have done a little better. Perhaps CCS deserved to win today, but it definitely should have been closer. Dylan Millwood took care of business at #1 singles and Jae Yoo did the same at #6, but those were the only two W's we got. I don't think the score indicates how close we actually are to the Chargers in talent. I was especially disappointed in our poor performance in doubles. I blame myself for this. I have been trying to figure out what lineup works best, and I have not found a solution. I'll stick with this one for now, because we don't have time to change it before our next match tomorrow.

Here are the results:

CCS Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Ellie Henry def. Candace Cline 8-0
Gretchen Rowe def. Whitney Clack 8-2
Hannah Henry def. Michelle Phillips 8-2
Suzannah Sliger def. Haylee Gossett 8-1
Tiffany Sullivan def. Corynne Schannuth 8-2
Marleah Payne def. Kayla Morgan 8-2

Girls Doubles:

E. Henry/Rowe def. Cline/Clack 8-0
H. Henry/Sullivan def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-0
Gracie Smith/Allie Sullivan def. Phillips/Morgan 8-0

Records:
CCS 3-0 (1-0); Hixson is 1-2 (1-1)


CCS Boys def. Hixson Boys 7-2

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def, Stewart Fellers 9-8 (9-7)
Barrett Schock (C) def. George Ozborn 8-0
Matthew Day (C) def. Cory Phillips 8-2
David Herberich (C) def. Myles Goforth 8-6
Nick Ryan (C) def. Eric Barr 8-5
Jae Yoo (H) def. Patrick Cooper 8-6

Doubles:

Fellers/Schock (C) def. Ozborn/Phillips 8-2
Herberich/Ryan (C) def. Millwood/Goforth 8-2
Schock/ Tim Payne (C) def. Barr/Yoo 8-1

Records:

CCS 3-0 (1-0); Hixson 2-1 (2-0)

Up Next: Tuesday, March 29 @ Home against Walker Valley. Not sure how good the Mustangs are this year. I know that they have fielded good teams in recent years, and they are in a district 5-AAA (so they are a little bigger than Hixson). Should be a good match for both the boys and girls.

Convincing Sweep Today!

Both the boys and girls teams took care of business today in District play, which means I get to use my favorite image (the one above with the moving broom)! It's nice to get a sweep, but it's even sweeter when it is against one of the schools in our District.

Lots of highlights today. First, let me just list all the players who won their Doubles and Singles matches: Whitney, Michelle, Haylee, Kayla, George, Cory, and Eric. Alex Shuford, subbing for Jae Yoo who had a hand injury, got a hard fought win at #6 singles, marking the first Varsity singles win of his career at Hixson. Nathan Terrell, a freshmen, also got his first action in a varsity match. He came in with Eric Barr and picked up a win at #3 doubles.

One of the best comebacks I've seen since taking the job at Hixson, was at #2 singles on the girls side. I did not see what happened at the start of the match, but by the time I got down there Whitney was down 1-5. After watching a few points, I could tell Whit was clearly the better player. She lost that game though-- now it was 1-6. Luckily, coaching is allowed during matches in High School tennis, so I got to speak with her on the change over. I told her that I thought she was the better player, and she agreed. I told her to take it one point at a time. She's a good listener, because she proceeded to win the next 7 games for the win, 8-6.

Very nice way to head into Spring Break. Which reminds me. There will be mandatory practice next week at the Racquet Club at our normal time for anyone not going out of town. If you are going out of town, I need a parent to let me know. We have got a ridiculous week coming up right after Spring Break with four matches in five days (who made this schedule?). We have a lot of work to do.

Here are the results:


Hixson Girls (1-1) def. Central Girls (0-2): 7-2

Girls Singles:

Autumn Baker (C) def. Candace Cline; 8-3
Whitney Clack (H) def. Christie Loden; 8-6
Michelle Phillips (H) def. Dora Harper; 8-4
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Tiffany Murray; 8-5
Erin Jones (C) def. Corynne Schannuth; 9-8 (10-8)
Kayla Morgan (H) def. Laura Belcher; 8-5

Girls Doubles:

Cline/Clack (H) def. Baker/Harper; 8-6
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Loden/Murray; 8-4
Phillips/Morgan (H) def. Belcher/Tyler McKenzie; 8-3

Hixson Boys (2-0) def. Central Boys (0-2): 7-2

Boys Singles:

John Mitchell (C) def. Dylan Millwood; 8-5
George Ozborn (H) def. Jeff Chastain; 8-5
Cory Phillips (H) def. Dylan Cotter; 8-4
Myles Goforth (H) def. Walt Braley; 8-2
Eric Barr (H) def. Alex Henry; 8-2
Alex Shuford (H) def. Nick Santos; 9-8 (7-5)


Boys Doubles:

Mitchell/Jones (C) def. Millwood/Goforth; 8-2
Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Chastain/Braley; 8-4
Barr/Nathan Terrell (H) def. Andrew Vickers/Jordan Mallett; 8-3


Up Next: Monday, March 28 @ Chattanooga Christian School. Perennial powerhouse CCS will be a very tough opponent. We did not play them last year, but look for them to be very strong 1-6 on the girls and boys side.

Season Opener Ends in a Split

It was touch and go there for a few minutes around 2:45pm. About a half dozen of us had pretty much rolled most of the water off of all six courts at Rivermont Park and we started to feel a few sprinkles. I kept telling the kids to pretend it wasn't raining and to finish rolling the big wet spots. That seemed to work. By three o'clock, I had the top six boys and girls warming up and we never thought about rain again.

I really appreciate all the players who got to the courts early and helped me get them ready to go, could not have happened without you. I also appreciate all the parents who got your kids to the match, even though I threw you a last minute curve ball and had you take them someplace completely different than you expected.

As for the matches, they went almost-kinda-sorta the way I expected. I thought our boys had a good chance, and they proved me right. We took five of six singles matches, which meant that we had the match won heading into doubles. I sat my top two players down, and we still managed to take two of three from the Lions in Doubles. Big congratulations to Myles Goforth who managed to win both his singles and doubles matches today in his Hixson debut. Jae Yoo teamed up with Myles at #2 doubles, also swept the day with a win at #6 singles. Alex Shuford and Russ Rebennack, who are my #4 doubles team, got a quality varsity win at #3 doubles.


On the girls side, I thought the defending District Champs would have a much tougher team. So I told my girls they were in for some tough matches. As it turned out, The Lionettes were not nearly as good as I had projected, but they were still good enough to take care of business. We did get some notable wins: Norah Soufraji (back from our 2009 team!) won at #3, Haylee Gossett #5 and Corynne Schannuth #6. Both Haylee and Corynne are freshmen, so this marks their high school debut-- nice way to start the career!

I thought the girls could have played a little better strategically in doubles, but that's something we can work on. I know it doesn't feel great to lose, but we'll see this team again on April 27th, and I promise we will do better.

Here are the Results:


Red Bank Girls (1-0) Defeat Hixson Girls (0-1): 6-3

Singles:

Amy Metcalfe (RB) def. Candace Cline, 8-0
Kristen Camp (RB) def. Whitney Clack, 8-4
Norah Soufraji (H) def. Claire Cox, 8-4
Katie Lawson (RB) def. Michelle Phillips, 8-2
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Amee Desai, 8-1
Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Sadie Kerley, 8-3

Doubles:

Metcalf/Lawson (RB) def. Cline/Clack, 8-1
Camp/Cox (RB) def. Soufraji/Gossett, 8-3
Desai/Kerley (RB) def. Abby O'Rear/Lydia Lindsey, 8-4

Hixson Boys (1-0) def. Red Bank Boys (0-1): 7-2

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Mark Colbert, 8-5
Nic Gagliano (RB) def. George Ozborn, 8-3
Cory Phillips (H) def. Jonathan Campbell, 8-1
Myles Goforth (H) def. Saagar Desai, 9-7
Eric Barr (H) def. Matthew Smith, 8-5
Jae Yoo (H) def. Christian Brown, 8-1

Doubles:

Colbert/Desai (RB) def. Phillips/Barr, 8-6
Goforth/Yoo (H) def. Gagliano/Adam Ryder, 8-4
Alex Shuford/Russ Rebennack (H) def. Brown/Tanner Bailey, 8-1

Up Next: Thursday, March 17 @ Chattanooga Central. Another important district match and due to a school-related band function, we are not going in at full strength. Last year we only played the girls once, so I have no idea what to expect. The Central boys had a very good #1 player, but not much else. I do remember that they seemed much better the second time we played them, so I'm guessing we're in for a dog fight. Chattanooga Central plays their home matches at Lakeside Park. Here are the directions:

Directions to Lakeside Park (Chattanooga Central’s Home Courts)

Take Hwy 153 South (Toward Hamilton Place) to Exit 5A (Hwy 58 North) Stay on 58 for a little over a mile, until you see the Taco Bell on the Right. There’s a traffic light just beyond the restaurant at Oakwood—Take a RIGHT. Stay on Oakwood for approximately half a mile through a four way stop. Take the next LEFT at Swann Road. Almost immediately you will see the Lakeside Park ball fields and then the tennis courts just beyond on the left side of the Road. There’s a big sign that says “Lakeside Youth Sports Complex” in the parking lot!

It's a New Year!

Conditioning has started! A group of very dedicated Hixson High School tennis players old and new showed up on a relatively mild January day to knock the cobwebs off their game. Returning players in attendance: Candace Cline (SR), Dylan Millwood (JR), Cory Phillips (JR), Jae Yoo (JR), Whitney Clack (SO) & Kayla Morgan (SO). Some new players who showed up: Meagan Dagnan (SO), Nathan Terrell (FR) & Emily Davis (FR).

Though I would have liked to have seen more players, I'm quite pleased with the turnout as these workouts are voluntary and the students are technically still on vacation. Once school starts on Wednesday, I expect the numbers to swell a bit. Which reminds me: We got lucky this week as the temperatures are going to be somewhat warm for this time of year, but these kids need to be dressed properly for the weather. They need to dress in layers of moisture wicking materials. Wiki has a great article about it if you need some direction: Layered Clothing.

We still need to have a parent meeting, but I'm not sure when that is going to take place yet. Hopefully within the next two weeks, but certainly before the end of January. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I could use all the help I can get in recruiting new players (especially underclassman boys!). So if you know of anyone who might be interested in playing tennis (no experience required) please send them my way.

Thanks, and as always feel free to call, text, or email me with any questions or comments.