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.

Inaugural Friday Night Under the Lights Successful!

Awesome night!

By all accounts, the first Hixson regular season match to be played indoors was a rousing success.  The Racquet Club lobby was packed with fans from both Rhea County and the Home Team.  It was even kind of a homecoming, as many of the Universities in Tennessee are currently on Spring Break.  I saw no less than three former Hixson players: Whitney Clack & Lydia Lindsey from the class of 2013 and Myles Goforth, class of 2012.  The tennis was good too!  Our boys managed to prevail 8-1, and the girls had their chances in a 3-6 defeat.

We played doubles first and the Hixson Boys got off to a great start heading into singles, sweeping all three courts.  The Hixson Girls also did a great job in doubles, taking two out of three.  The boys continued their good run for the most part in singles.  One hiccup in the #5 position, but Ethan Gossett had his chances in a tough 7-9 loss.  Interestingly, his sister Haylee was the only girl to manage a win in singles for our girls.  She played a near perfect match in the #2 slot, to beat a very good Rhea County player.

Here are the the full results:

Hixson Boys def. Rhea County 8-1

Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Jackson Gravitt 8-1

Richard Vuong (H) def. Tanner Holsomback 8-0

Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Andrew Travis 8-3

Carl Phillips (H) def. Hunter Crook 8-3

Garrett Hall (RC) def. Ethan Gossett  9-7

Rivers DeFriese (H) def. Chase Esienmenger 8-5

Doubles:

Condra/Vuong (H) def. Gravitt/Travis 8-1

Nguyen/Phillips (H) def. Holsomback/Crook 8-6

Gossett/DeFriese (H) def. Hall/Gavin Jones 8-6

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

Rhea County Girls def. Hixson Girls 6-3

Singles:

Lexi Bowman (RC) def. Michelle Phillips 8-4

Haylee Gossett (H) def. Shayla Bradley 8-6

Mallory McWherter (RC) def. Emily Davis 8-2

Lindsay Smith (RC) def. Caylee Schannuth 8-2

Katelyn Travis (RC) def. Maggie Ozborn 8-2

Megan Millard (RC) def. Corynne Schannuth 9-8 (7-4)

Doubles:

Bowman/McWherter (RC) def. Gossett/Davis 8-3

Phillips/Cay.Schannuth (H) def. Bradley/Smith 8-6

Ozborn/Cor.Schannuth (H) def. Travis/Madeline Klee 8-2

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

UP NEXT:  Thursday, March 20 @ HOME Vs. Chattanooga Central.  From what I understand, the Purple Pounders are in serious rebuilding mode on both the girls and boys side.  I expect our first district match to be successful for both our teams.

Hixson Boys Charge Past Chattanooga Christian - Girls Come Up Short In Opener

Always fun to head out to the foot of Lookout Mountain to play Chattanooga Christian.  We always know that we will have a tough match on our hands, and today was no exception.  The Boys started off the season with their first win over the Chargers during my six year tenure at Hixson.  

I thought it might go a little more lopsided, but in the end, we got our five wins.  We started the day off with doubles and we took 2 out of 3 there.  We then got three more wins in the #1, 2 & 4 spots in singles and that was all we needed.  Ethan Gossett almost gave us a sixth "W", but ended up losing a close tiebreaker in the #5 spot.  Great job by Alex Condra, Richard Vuong and Carl Phillips for winning both their singles/doubles matches.

Going in, we knew we had our hands full on the Girls side, as the Lady Chargers are the Defending State Champs in A/AA.  Overall, I am quite pleased with the way our girls handled themselves.  We even got a nice win from Maggie Ozborn & Corynne Schannuth in the #3 doubles slot. 

Here are the full results:

Hixson Boys def. CCS Boys 5-4

Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Joe Sliger 8-2

Richard Vuong (H) def. Baxendell 8-2

Will French (C) def. Kevin Nguyen 8-0

Carl Phillips (H) def. Rett Bryant 8-2

Tommy Howell (C) def. Ethan Gossett 9-8 (10-8)

A. Turner (C) def. Rivers DeFriese 8-5

Doubles:

Condra/Vuong (H) def. Sliger/Baxendell 8-4

Nguyen/Phillips (H) def. French/Howell 8-5

Bryant/Turner (C) def. Gossett/DeFriese 8-2

CCS Girls def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Singles:

Hannah Henry (C) def. Michelle Phillips 8-1

Caroline Redberg (C) def. Haylee Gossett 8-5

Emmie Cornell (C) def. Emily Davis 8-4

Roo Rogers (C) def. Caylee Schannuth 8-6

Sarah Smith (C) def. Maggie Ozborn 8-1

Lizzy Hoffecker (C) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-4

Doubles:

Henry/Redberg (C) def. Gossett/Davis 8-0

Cornell/Smith (C) def. Phillips/C. Schannuth 8-5

Ozborn/Schannuth (H) def. Rogers/Kadie Ann Smith 9-8 (7-4)

Hixson Records:

Boys 1-0 (Overall); 0-0 (District 6-A/AA)

Girls 0-1 (Overall); 0-0 (District 6-A/AA)

UP NEXT: "Friday Night Under the Lights I"  Friday, March 14, 6:00 PM indoors at the Racquet Club of Chattanooga versus Rhea County.  Another traditional out of district match.  The Rhea County Girls should be tough as usual.  They also have a very good #1 Seed on the Boys' side.  Should be fun!  Please come out and support us!