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!
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