Boys Make History! Sectional Champions 2014

Another late update to our Hixson Tennis Season.  Whew, what a year we have had!

The Boys made history for our Program by winning the first Team Region ever against Boyd Buchanan. We won that match relatively easily, with all five of our boys winning their singles matches and not needing to play doubles.

Their run was not over yet, as a week later we traveled to Signal Mountain to battle the Eagles for a chance to go to Murfreesboro. Signal Mountain, you will recall, beat us at home earlier in the Season to hand our boys their first loss of the season.  The format for the Sectional battle (five singles and two doubles matches) favored our boys, and they prevailed 4-2.  Another first for our program: Sectional Champs and we were on our way to Murfreesboro as State Semi-Finalists!

We had our chances against Christ Presbyterian Academy out of Nashville, but it was not to be.  We took an early 3-0 lead in singles, but lost the final two singles matches at #2 and #5-- both of which were three set affairs.  Still, I liked our chances, as we only needed one match in doubles to advance to the State Final.  Our #2 doubles team, lost quickly, 3-8.  It was up to our #1 doubles team.  This match went back and forth and finally the two teams were even at eight games apiece.  Hixson managed to stave off an early match point against, and were even on serve with their own match point, but the CPA team found away to win that point and closed out the match two points later, 6-8.

As I said on Facebook, it is easy to lose when your team gets blown out, but tougher to swallow when you know that you are every bit as good as the players on the other side of the net. This one came down to experience.  The CPA boys have been to this tournament at least twice before.  They lost in the Semis in 2012, and lost in the final in 2013.  They used every bit of that experience to find a way to win against our team.  Still, I am so proud of this team and all that they accomplished.  I know that they are still a very young group of players with a lot of room for improvement.  I fully expect this team to get back to Murfreesboro before it is all said and done.

The road back to the State Tournament, however,  is a long and hard one.  I'm only losing one player from this squad, but he happens to be one of my most productive players, senior Kevin Nguyen.  Kevin went 5-0 in the #4 Singles position and 10-3 in the #1 and #2 Doubles spots. That is a lot of wins I need from someone else next year.  The Wildcats will NEED to work hard all year in order to get back into this position.  I can work with them this summer, but once August comes around, they will be on their own to keep practicing.  Official practice starts February 16, 2015. They had better be ready!

Wildcats Split With Blue Raiders

The regular season is winding down, but that does not necessarily mean the competition is any easier.  Our Boys lost for only the third time this season against a very talented group from Cleveland.  The Girls, on the other hand, got their first non-district win of the year against the Blue Raiders!

Michelle Phillips played a near flawless match to win at #1 singles, to get the Wildcats off to a terrific start.  We ended up with four wins coming out of singles and all we needed was one win in doubles-- we got two.  Michelle and Haylee Gossett dominated in the #1 doubles spot, and Maggie Ozborn and Caylee Schannuth (pictured above) did the same in the #3 doubles position.

As for the Boys, I knew we would have a fight on our hands.  What I did not anticipate, was that we would roll over and play dead once we got to doubles.  Doubles has always been the hallmark of the Hixson Tennis Program since I took over in 2009.  This year for the Boys, it has been our downfall.  In the three losses the Boys' team has endured this season (Signal Mountain, Notre Dame and now Cleveland) it has been our doubles play which made the difference.  Had we taken care of business in doubles in all three of those losses, our Boys would be sitting at 12-0 this year.  I honestly cannot tell you why I have not been able to teach this team how to play doubles.  I am at a loss.  We work on doubles as much or more than any Hixson team has in the past, but our execution has been mediocre at best.  I blame myself, and I will try to find the solution this week.  I'd better, because time is running out.

Here are the full results:

Cleveland Boys Def. Hixson Boys 6-3

Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Jake Gibson 8-2

Brandon Williams (C) def. Richard Vuong 9-8 (7-5)

Carl Phillips (H) def. Shivang Patel 8-4

Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Kevin Harucharrah 8-4

Adam Klibisz (C) def. Rivers De'Friese 8-2

Vereen Patel (C) def. Angel Salinas 8-2

Doubles:

Gibson/S. Patel (C) def. Condra/Vuong 8-6

Williams/Harucharrah (C) def. Phillips/Nguyen 9-7

Klibisz/V. Patel (C) def. De'Friese/Landon Goforth 8-3

Hixson Boys' Record: 9-3 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA Champion)

Hixson Girls Def. Cleveland Girls 6-3

Singles:

Michelle Phillips (H) def. Katherine Cantrell 8-1

Maddie Ohlsson (C) def. Haylee Gossett 8-0

Emily Davis (H) def. Heidi Barringer 9-8 (7-2)

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Sammi Kate Eason 8-3

Merideth Wheeler (C) def. Maggie Ozborn 9-7

Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Angie Giraldo 8-2

Doubles:

Phillips/Gossett (H) def. Cantrell/Ohlsson 8-4

Barringer/Eason (C) def. Davis/Cor. Schannuth 9-7

Cay. Schannuth/Ozborn (H) def. Wheeler/Giraldo 8-1

Hixson Girls' Record: 7-5 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA Champion)

UP NEXT: Thursday, April 24 Vs. East Hamilton @ Home.  Formerly an arch-District rival, the Hurricanes are coming back to the Racquet Club, having recently graduated to the Triple-A classification.  I have not paid much attention to how EH is doing in their new district, but I would imagine they are still very tough on the Girls' side and less so on the Boys'.  I will stress the fact that we cannot underestimate them. 

April 4 & 5 - Hixson Boys Play in The Rotary!

In January, I enquired about getting into the prestigious Rotary Tournament, which has been going strong for over 50 years here in Chattanooga.  Our team was immediately put on the waiting list and a few weeks later, I got an email informing me that one of the teams had dropped out, and asking me if Hixson be interested.  I'm pretty sure everyone in my neighborhood heard my emphatic "YESS!" upon reading that email. Of course, I still had to get approval from our school, and actually reply in the affirmative, but that was the moment that I realized that people were starting to take this team seriously.

The first part of our schedule was pretty demanding, and after barely getting by Chattanooga Christian, we had two set backs: a tough 5-4 loss to Signal Mountain and an awful 7-2 loss to Notre Dame.  Neither of those teams are in our District, but I told our boys that if they played like that at the Rotary, they would not be in for a fun weekend.

Friday, April 4 finally came, and it was a rainy mess.  Luckily, our draw was at McCallie and we managed to get all the matches in on Friday thanks to their lovely new indoor facility (pictured below), and a short match format.

We only had one win in the first round, Carl Phillips at #4 Singles, but I thought everyone played well.  Kevin Nguyen, Richard Vuong, Ethan Gossett and Rivers De'Friese all lost in third set tiebreakers. So we had our chances.

We ended up with two doubles teams in the Consolation finals: Carl Phillips & Kevin Nguyen won their final, and Ethan Gossett & Rivers De'Friese lost.  We also had three singles players in the consolation finals, but could not manage to get a win.  Still the valuable match experience that Ethan, Rivers and Kevin got in that consolation final cannot be over-stated.

As a team we finished sixth out of eight teams, tied with Signal Mountain.  Our kids learned a lot, and  hopefully understand what it takes to win at the next level.  I'm proud of them, and hope we get to come back to this tournament next year.  We should only lose one player from this group, so heading into this tournament next year, we might surprise a few more folks.

Spring Break: Time To Catch Up!

Well a lot has happened since I last posted on this here blog.  I must say, that I have been very busy this Spring, and since I do updates over on Facebook, I have not been very diligent about keeping up with our season over here.  I apologize.  I have decided to do one big blog with all the scores thus far in the season.  I will do a separate blog post for a summary of how we did at the Rotary Tournament.

I would like to mention that we are District 6-A/AA Champions once again-- Both the Boys and the Girls Teams!  We only have three regular season matches left, but all of those are against non-district foes (Cleveland, East Hamilton & Silverdale), which should give us some good competition heading into our post-season.  Our District Individual Tournament is scheduled for Monday & Tuesday, April 28-29.

All right, here are all the scores I've missed:

April 9, 2014

Hixson Boys Def. Boyd Buchanan Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Alex Contra (H) def. Joseph Fairchild 8-3

Richard Vuong (H) def. Jake Hardin 8-3

Carl Phillips (H) def. Grayson Hartness 8-3

Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Charlie Driver 8-1

Rivers De'Friese (H) def. David Zumbrun 8-3

Angel Salinas (H) def.  Luke Headrick 8-1

Boys Doubles:

Hartness/Hardin (B) def. Condra/Vuong 8-6

Phillips/Nguyen (H) def. Fairchild/Driver 9-8 (7-5)

De'Friese/Landon Goforth (H) def. David Zumbrun/Tanner Zumbrun 8-5

Hixson Boys Record: 9-2 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Boyd Buchanan Girls Def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Makenna Thomas (B) def. Michelle Phillips 8-3

Katie Delay (B) def.  Haylee Gossett 8-0 

Paige Zumbrun (B) def.  Emily Davis 8-4

Christina Amos (B) def. Caylee Schannuth 8-1

Shelby Brown (B) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-0

Libby Reynolds (B) def. Kinsey Woods 8-1

Girls Doubles:

Thomas/Delay (B) def. Phillips/Gossett 8-4

Zumbrun/Amos (B) def. Davis/Cor. Schannuth 8-4

Brown/Reynolds (B) def. Cay. Schannuth/Woods 8-1

Hixson Girls Record: 6-5 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA)

April 8, 2014

With their wins over Red Bank,

Hixson Boys and Girls repeat as champions of District 6-A/AA

Hixson Boys Def. Red Bank Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Alex Contra (H) def. Cody Schmidt 8-1

Richard Vuong (H) def. Josh Reed 8-1

Carl Phillips (H) def. Daniel Cox 8-1

Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Gary Paradis 8-2

Rivers De'Friese (H) def. Austin Camp 8-3

Cody Baugh (R) def. Angel Salinas 8-4

Boys Doubles:

Condra/Vuong (H) def. Schmidt/Reed 8-1

Phillips/Nguyen (H) def. Cox/Paradis 8-4

De'Friese/London Goforth (H) def. Andrew Judd/Matthew Branding 8-0

Hixson Boys Record: 8-2 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Hixson Girls Def. Red Bank Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Michelle Phillips (H) def. Katie Lawson 8-0

Haylee Gossett (H) def. Rachel Thornbury 8-1

Emily Davis (H) def. Dasha Brown 8-3

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Nadal Davis 9-7

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Bailey Carlson 8-0

Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Megan Paradis 8-1

Girls Doubles:

Phillips/Gossett (H) def. Lawson/Thornbury 8-4

Davis/Cor. Schannuth (H) def. Brown/Paradis 8-4

Cay. Schannuth/Ozborn (H) def. A.K. Bork/Marina Moller 8-0

Hixson Girls Record: 6-4 (Overall); 6-0 (District 6-A/AA)

April 3, 2014

Hixson Boys def. Brainerd Boys 9-0

Boys Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Bernard King 8-2

Richard Vuong (H) def. Cameron Jeffries 8-1

Carl Phillips (H) def. Ralph Foster 8-1

Angel Salinas (H) def. Kobeia Ford 8-0

Ethan Gossett (H) def. Deshaun Fair 8-2

Landan Goforth (H0 def. Curtis Davis 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Phillips/Nguyen (H) def. King/Jeffries 8-2

DeFriese/Gossett (H) def. Foster/Fair 8-1

Salinas/Goforth (H) def. Ford/Moore 8-0

Hixson Boys Record: 7-2 (Overall); 5-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Hixson Girls def. Brainerd Girls 6-3

Girls Singles

Brittany Canty (B) def. Michelle Phillips 8-4

Brianna Canty (B) def. Haylee Gossett 8-4

Emily Davis (H) def. Kayla Corner 8-1

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Porchia Turner 8-4

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Dezreal Hutchinson 8-1

Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Careka Reed 8-0

Girls Doubles:

Canty/Canty (B) def. Phillips/Gossett 8-6

Davis/Schannuth (H) def. Hutchinson/Reed 8-1

Schannuth/Ozborn (H) def. Turner/Corner 8-3

Hixson Girls Record: 5-4 (Overall); 5-0 (District 6-A/AA)

April 1, 2014

Hixson Boys def. Lookout Valley Boys 9-0

Singles:

Carl Phillips (H) def. Spencer Adams 8-0

Rivers De'Friese (H) def. Earth Reed 8-0

Angel Salinas (H) def. Austin Yarborough 1-0 Retired

Ethan Gossett (H) def. Eran Jones 8-0

Landon Goforth (H) def. Lucas Wright 8-0

Alex Condra (H) won by Forfeit

Doubles:

Phillips/De'Friese (H) def. Adams/Yarborough 8-0

Salinas/Goforth (H) def. Reed/Wright 8-2

Gossett/Vuong (H) won by Forfeit

Hixson Girls def. Lookout Valley Girls 9-0

Singles:

Haylee Gossett (H) def. Devan Smith 8-1

Emily Davis (H) def. Caitlin Orwell 8-1

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Jessica Thacker 8-2

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Emily Rogers 8-0

Kinsey Woods (H) def. Raven Smith 8-5

Aimee Hebert (H) def. Tessa Croft 6-5 Retired

Doubles:

Ozborn/Phillips (H) def. Smith/Orwell 8-0

Gossett/Woods (H) def. Thacker/Rogers 8-1

Schannuth/Hebert (H) def. Smith/ Maggie Coffery 8-6

March 31, 2014 

Hixson Boys def. East Ridge Boys 7-0

Boys Singles:

Carl Phillips (H) def. Nick Melton 8-0

Rivers DeFriese (H) def. James Carroll 8-0

Angel Salinas (H) def. Nick Gray 8-0

Ethan Gossett (H) def. William Richardson 8-1

Landon Goforth (H) def. Rolando Andres 8-0

Boys Doubles:

DeFriese/Gossett (H) def. Melton/Carroll 8-1

Salinas/Goforth (H) def. Gray/Richardson 8-0

Hixson Boys Record: 5-2 (Overall); 3-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Hixson Girls def. East Ridge Girls 8-1

Girls Singles:

Emily Davis (H) def. Sarah Barnes 8-2

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Payten Perry 8-1

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Makayla Johnson 8-0

Corrynne Schannuth (H) def. Haven Silvers 8-1

Kinsey Woods (H) def. Caylee Wilson 8-1

Aimee Hebert (H) def. Hardi Patel 9-7

Girls Doubles:

Davis/Cor. Schannuth (H) def. Johnson/Silvers 8-3

Cay.Schannuth/Ozborn (H) def. Barnes/Johanna Hernandez 8-1

Perry/Wilson (ER) def Woods/Hebert 8-4

Hixson Girls Record: 3-4 (Overall); 3-0 (District 6-A/AA)

March 27, 2014

Hixson Boys Def. Van Buren 7-2

Alex Campbell (V) def. Angel Salinas 8-5

Ethan Gossett (H) def. Garth Duncan 8-2

Landon Goforth (H) def. Ryan Davis 8-3

Alex Condra won by Forfeit

Richard Vuong won by Forfeit

Carl Phillips won by Forfeit

Campbell/Davis (V) def. Salinas/Goforth 8-5

Gossett/Vuong (H) won by Forfeit

Phillips/Nguyen (H) won by Forfeit

Hixson Girls Def. Van Buren Girls 9-0

Singles:

Caylee Schannuth (H) def. Allison Yates 8-1

Corynne Schannuth (H) def. Kayla Hill 8-0

Kinsey Woods won by Forfeit

Aimee Hebert won by Forfeit

Michelle Phillips won by Forfeit

Emily Davis won by Forfeit

Doubles:

Woods/Hebert (H) def. Yates/Hill 9-7

Schannuth/Schannuth (H) won by Forfeit

Haylee Gossett/Maggie Ozborn (H) won by Forfeit

March 24, 2014

Notre Dame Boys Def. Hixson Boys 7-2

Singles: 

Charles Jabaley (N) def. Alex Condra 8-0

J.R. Davis (N) def. Richard Vuong 8-3

Andrew Lisy (N) def. Kevin Nguyen 8-4

Carl Phillips (H) def. Aaron Marini 8-6

Rivers De'Friese (H) def. Nick Coronis 8-0

Matt Andrews (N) def. Ethan Gossett 8-4

Doubles:

Jabaley/Davis (N) def. Condra/Vuong 8-6

Lisy/Andrews (N) def. Phillips/Vuong 8-3

Marini/Coronis (N) def. De'Friese/Gossett 8-6

Notre Dame Girls Def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Singles

Sarah Joyce (N) def. Michelle Phillips 8-6

Sarah Faith Ingell (N) def. Haylee Gossett 8-0

Mary Margaret Haywood (N) def. Caylee Schannuth 8-1

Katie Linsey (N) def. Maggie Ozborn 8-2

Jessica Moore (N) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-0

Lauren Collins (N) def. Kinsey Woods (8-1)

Doubles:

Phillips/Gossett (H) def. Joyce/Lindsey 8-6

Ingell/Haywood (N) def. Schannuth/Schannuth 8-0

Hannah Cashett/Elizibeth Carman (N) def. Ozborn/Woods 8-2

March 21, 2014

Signal Mountain Boys def. Hixson Boys 5-4

Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Jason Morris 8-5

Richard Vuong (H) def. Luke Blentlinger 8-4

Zach Brown (S) def. Kevin Nguyen 8-4

Carl Phillips (H) def. Micajah Tucker 8-5

Grant Williams (S) def. Rivers De'Friese 4-1, Retired

Thomas Thelen (S) def. Ethan Gossett 8-3

Doubles:

Condra/Vuong (H) def. Morris/Blentlinger 9-7

Brown/Tucker (S) def. Phillips/Nguyen 8-6

Williams/Theylin (S) def. De'Friese/Gossett 8-6

Signal Mountain Girls Def. Hixson Girls 5-4

Singles:

Michelle Phillips (H) def. Anna Cameron 8-5

Allwyn Fisher (S) def. Haylee Gossett 8-6

Emily Davis (H) def. Hanna Skinner 8-6

Mary Elizabeth Wakim (S) def. Caylee Schannuth 8-6

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Sarah Price 8-4

Sarah Kate Bailey (S) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-0

Doubles:

Cameron/Fisher (S) def. Gossett/Davis 9-7

Wakim/Bailey (S) def. Phillips/Cay. Schannuth 8-6

Ozborn/Cor. Schannuth (H) def. Skinner/Price 8-6

Wildcats Sweep the Purple Pounders!

The first day of Spring coincided with our first District match, and I must say it was an unqualified success on both counts.  After some not so great weather early this week, the Sun finally came out just in time for our match with Chattanooga Central.  I mused earlier on Facebook, that this was the first time in five years that I would be facing someone other than Jack Mitchell as the opposing Central coach.  Jack coached the Purple Pounders for four years, while his son John was a student-athlete there.  It was a bit strange, but Coach Robin Moore seems to have things under control over there in her first season as the Boys & Girls tennis coach.

Unfortunately, the Pounders are definitely in a rebuilding mode, as they lost nearly everyone on both the Boys and Girls side from last year's senior heavy team. Our Wildcats took care of business, and got their first true "Sweep" of the year (Boys and Girls did not lose a set on the day).  Here are the full results:

Hixson Boys def. Chattanooga Central Boys 9-0

Singles:

Richard Vuong (H) def. Brett Kranske 8-0

Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Riley Hicks 8-0

Rivers DeFriese (H) def. Kylan Harrison 8-4

Ethan Gossett (H) def. Phillip Bonnington 8-2

Angel Salinas (H) def. Aaron Garrison 8-0

Landon Goforth (H) def. Corey Little 8-0

Hixson Boys Record:  3-0 (Overall); 1-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Doubles:

DeFriese/Gossett (H) def. Kranske/Harrison 8-2

Vuong/Salinas (H) def. Hicks/Bonnington 8-1

Nguyen/Goforth (H) def. Garrison/Little 8-0

Hixson Girls def. Chattanooga Central Girls 9-0

Singles:

Michelle Phillips (H) def. Alex Bonner 8-4

Caylee Gossett (H) def. Emily Lyles 8-1

Maggie Ozborn (H) def. Casey Jennings 6-0, Retired

Kinsey Woods (H) def. Alexia Barnes 8-0

Aimee Hebert (H) def. Caitlyn Clark 8-1

Corynne Schannuth (H)  won by default

Doubles:

Haylee Gossett/Woods (H) def. Bonner/Clark 8-1

Emily Davis/Hebert (H) def. Lyles/Barnes 8-3

Phillips/Ozborn (H) won by default

Hixson Girls Record:  1-2 (Overall); 1-0 (District 6-A/AA)

UP NEXT: "Friday Night Under the Lights II" At Home versus Signal Mountain indoors at the Racquet Club of Chattanooga.  This one should be a good one folks.  A tough out of district foe, the Eagles will come in well coached and ready to play. I normally have a pretty good idea about how our teams will fare, but I seriously think this one could go either way, depending on who wants it more for both the girls and the boys.  We'll see.