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.