Wildcats Split with Lions.

It seems like we are always battling the possibility of thunderstorms during our Spring season, but yesterday was pretty amazing. The storms were supposed to hit our area at about 3:30pm, which, coincidentally, was the time we were supposed to square off with one of our district rivals, Red Bank. About 15 minutes after 3:00pm, things got a little scary. The skies darkened a bit, and the wind picked up. Across the Tennessee River, which is visible from the Rivermont Courts where the Lions play their home matches, the heavens started lighting up. Our players were out on the courts warming up, so Coach Wagner and I pulled everyone off the courts and decided to wait it out.

I sat in my vehicle and reset my stopwatch every time I saw a lightning bolt. Sometimes my watch would get to about two minutes, but usually I would see a strike about once per minute. This went on for about an hour. Finally, the lightning stopped and we were able to start matches at about 4:45pm. Amazingly, we got almost no rain, so the courts were as close to bone dry as we could have possibly hoped.

After last week's scrimmage against Red Bank, I was skeptical about our chances. As it turned out, both my teams did better than I had hoped.

The girls won in convincing fashion. It didn't hit me until today how meaningful that victory is to our program. Since taking the job at Hixson, I have faced the Lady Lions twice per year, and not once have my girls come out on top-- 0-6, for those of you keeping score at home. I had four girls who were perfect on the day winning both their singles and doubles matches: Whitney Clack, Michelle Phillips, Haylee Gossett and Corynne Schannuth. Haylee and Corynne played an inspired match, going down 1-5, before prevailing 9-7. Kayla Morgan also stepped in at #3 doubles teaming with Emily Gilreath to allow my girls to sweep all three doubles points.

The Boys fought tooth and nail, and ended up coming up short, 3-6. We only got one point in the singles, but two other matches went to tiebreakers and another one was lost at 7-9. Dylan continued his perfect start to the 2012 season by winning his singles match at the #1 seed, and he and George Ozborn teamed up to win at the #1 doubles slot. Cory Phillips played great tennis all day long, coming up short in singles, losing in a tiebreak. In doubles, he shined as he and Kevin Nguyen outlasted their opponents 8-6. George also played one of the best matches I've ever seen him play, losing 7-9. We'll see Red Bank again in a little over a month, I am challenging my boys to seal the deal next time.

Here are the results:

Hixson Girls def. Red Bank Girls, 7-2

Singles:

Whitney Clack (H) def. Katie Lofton, 8-3
Michelle Phillips (H) def. Amee Desai, 8-4
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Lynn Tran, 8-2
Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Julia Reed, 8-6
Rachel Thornberry (RB) def. Emily Gilreath, 8-3
Orienne Gage (RB) def. Lydia Lindsey, 8-6

Doubles:

Clack/Phillips (H) def. Lofton/Thornberry, 8-2
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Desai/Tran, 9-7
Gilreath/Morgan (H) def. Orienne Gage/Alaire Gage, 8-5


Red Bank Boys def. Hixson Boys, 6-3

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Nic Gagliano, 8-5
Mark Colbert (RB) def. George Ozborn, 9-7
Saager Desai (RB) def. Cory Phillips, 9-8 (7-1)
Jonathan Campbell (RB) def. Kevin Nguyen, 8-3
Matthew Smith (RB) def. Jacob Lindsey, 9-8 (7-2)
Adam Ryder (RB) def. Rivers DeFries, 8-3


Doubles:

Millwood/Ozborn (H) def. Gagliano/Smith, 8-5
Phillips/Nguyen (H) def. Colbert/Campbell, 8-6
Christian Brown (RB) def. DeFries/Nicolas Rodgers, 8-2

Up Next: At Home against East Ridge. This is the first year East Ridge has had a program since I've been at Hixson. Usually first year teams are not strong. We will see. Problem is, I'm not sure exactly where the match will be. Currently, three of my hard courts are being resurfaced. I hope to find out tomorrow. Possibilities: Racquet Club (utilizing some of the indoor courts), Champions Club or the Old Hixson Middle School courts. Stay tuned!