Wildcats Split with Chargers

Under nearly perfect conditions, the Hixson Wildcats got there first full match in of 2015. The Boys prevailed 6-3 while the girls were outmatched 9-0. Lots of growing pains on the Girls' side as we have a very inexperienced team this year with half the Varsity squad having no High School match experience. I thought the Girls fought hard today, and they will improve as move forward.

The Boys did about as well as can be expected, nearly sweeping singles. I would have liked to have taken 2 out of 3 doubles, but I thought our #1 Doubles team fought hard. 

Hixson Boys def. CCS Boys 6-3

Boys Singles:

Alex Condra (H) def. Joe Sliger 8-4

Richard Vuong (H) def. Will French 8-2

Carl Phillips (H) def. Rett Bryat 8-3

Landon Goforth (H) def. Chris Taylor 8-5

Angel Salinas (H) def. Addison Turner 8-3

Tommy Howell (C) def. Spencer Clack 8-2

Boys Doubles:

Sliger/French (C) def. Condra/Vuong 8-6

Phillips/Goforth (H) def. Bryant/Howell 9-7

Taylor/Turner (C) def. Salinas/Xavier Salinas 8-1

Records:

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

CCS 0-1 (Overall); 0-0 (District 7-A/AA)

Chattanooga Christian Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Annie Reynolds def. Maggie Ozborn 8-2

Lizzy Hoffecker def Caylee Schannuth 8-3

Jade Baker def. Kinsey Woods 8-3

Amelia Muay def. Makayla Catlett 8-0

Addie Boulware def. Karmin Nevels 8-3

Holly Schumert def. Lexy Niznick 8-2

Girls Doubles:

Reynolds/Hoffecker def. Ozborn/Schannuth 8-5

Baker/Muay def. Woods/Catlett 8-2

Boulware/Schumert def. Nevels/Niznick 8-2

Records:

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

CCS 0-1 (Overall); 0-0 (District 7-A/AA)

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!

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.

CCS Charges past Wildcats.

Okay, it wasn't that cold out there today, but it wasn't warm either. We had a very difficult non-district match today at Chattanooga Christian. If you're a college basketball fan, this would be like putting Duke or North Carolina on your non-conference schedule. It rained most this morning, and for awhile there it looked like we might have to cancel. The sun never really poked out, but it was still dry enough by 4:00pm to play, even if it was a little chilly.

Great turnout today from the parents by the way, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who came out to support our team. I know it means a lot to the kids, even if they don't always tell you. For those of you who made it out to CCS, I'm sure you noticed their giant billboards commemorating all of their past glories. Sue Webb has built quite a program over there, and her teams are always competitive. You saw that today, especially on the girls' side. You see, that Duke/North Carolina analogy isn't too far off the mark!

We had to scratch and claw for every point and game we won. Although it is tough to mention a highlight when a team gets shut out, I have got to mention the effort by Michelle Phillips at #3 singles. Although she only managed to win two games, she absolutely gave the CCS girl everything she could handle. A valiant effort against a very tough opponent. All in all, we'll chalk this one up as a learning experience. Remember, we've got three freshmen girls in the top six. Right now they are playing for the future.

On the boys' side, I actually thought we could have done a little better. Perhaps CCS deserved to win today, but it definitely should have been closer. Dylan Millwood took care of business at #1 singles and Jae Yoo did the same at #6, but those were the only two W's we got. I don't think the score indicates how close we actually are to the Chargers in talent. I was especially disappointed in our poor performance in doubles. I blame myself for this. I have been trying to figure out what lineup works best, and I have not found a solution. I'll stick with this one for now, because we don't have time to change it before our next match tomorrow.

Here are the results:

CCS Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Ellie Henry def. Candace Cline 8-0
Gretchen Rowe def. Whitney Clack 8-2
Hannah Henry def. Michelle Phillips 8-2
Suzannah Sliger def. Haylee Gossett 8-1
Tiffany Sullivan def. Corynne Schannuth 8-2
Marleah Payne def. Kayla Morgan 8-2

Girls Doubles:

E. Henry/Rowe def. Cline/Clack 8-0
H. Henry/Sullivan def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-0
Gracie Smith/Allie Sullivan def. Phillips/Morgan 8-0

Records:
CCS 3-0 (1-0); Hixson is 1-2 (1-1)


CCS Boys def. Hixson Boys 7-2

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def, Stewart Fellers 9-8 (9-7)
Barrett Schock (C) def. George Ozborn 8-0
Matthew Day (C) def. Cory Phillips 8-2
David Herberich (C) def. Myles Goforth 8-6
Nick Ryan (C) def. Eric Barr 8-5
Jae Yoo (H) def. Patrick Cooper 8-6

Doubles:

Fellers/Schock (C) def. Ozborn/Phillips 8-2
Herberich/Ryan (C) def. Millwood/Goforth 8-2
Schock/ Tim Payne (C) def. Barr/Yoo 8-1

Records:

CCS 3-0 (1-0); Hixson 2-1 (2-0)

Up Next: Tuesday, March 29 @ Home against Walker Valley. Not sure how good the Mustangs are this year. I know that they have fielded good teams in recent years, and they are in a district 5-AAA (so they are a little bigger than Hixson). Should be a good match for both the boys and girls.