Trojans, Tornadoes & Troupers

Wow, it seems like half a year has passed since last I posted. I apologize for that. Let me catch up!

We played Soddy Daisy on the Thursday before Easter. Those matches went pretty much the way I expected. It was my first meeting with our nearest, non-district, geographical rival. On the Boys' side, the Trojans lost five seniors from last year's team (one of which earned a scholarship to play at Tennessee Wesleyan), so I knew they were in rebuilding mode. Our upperclassmen-heavy lineup easily dispatched their inexperienced team 8-1. With the match win already secured, Jae Yoo once again offered to sit out of the lineup to allow someone else to get some varsity experience. Freshman, Nathan Terrell got his first varsity singles win at the #6 spot.

It was completely opposite on the Girls' side. With only one freshman in their top six, Soddy is one of the toughest public school teams in our area. Our girls were no match, especially playing without our #3 Seed-- Michelle Phillips, was out sick. Kudos to Lydia Lindsey for coming on short notice ready to play a very tough opponent. It was her first varsity singles match!

Here are the results:

Soddy Daisy Girls def. Hixson Girls 9-0

Girls Singles:

Callie Brannon def. Candace Cline 8-2
Kaitlyn Oscai def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Alex Schafer def. Haylee Gossett 8-3
Olivia Holden def. Corynne Schannuth 8-0
Jessica Powell def. Abby O'Rear 8-0
Abigail Ellis def. Lydia Lindsey 8-0

Girls Doubles:

Oscai/Schafer def. Cline/Clack 8-4
Brannon/Powell def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-1
Holden/Ellis def. O'Rear/Lindsey 8-0


Hixson Boys def. Soddy Daisy Boys 8-1

Boys Singles:

Jordan Crowe (SD) def. Dylan Millwood 8-4
George Ozborn def. James Acuff 8-2
Cory Phillips def. Dillon Keef 9-8 (9-7)
Myles Goforth def. Wes Ford 8-6
Eric Barr def. Tyler Johns 8-2
Nathan Terrell def. Justin Bennett 8-1

Boys Doubles:

Ozborn/Phillips def. Crowe/Acuff 8-6
Millwoood/Goforth def. Ford/Johns 8-2
Barr/Yoo def. Keef/Bennett 8-3


After the long weekend, things got a little crazy here in the Chattanooga area. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who were adversely affected by this terrible storm system. We had to cancel two district matches due to the storm-- we will try to make up Red Bank and CSAS early next week.

After two days of good weather we did manage to get our JV match taken care of on Signal Mountain. I greatly appreciate everyone who came out to play and support our young players. We had eight girls (Michell and Haylee came up to play for the JV) and two boys show up to play on a beautiful day. Everyone got a singles and a doubles match. Though we did not manage to score any victories, everyone got some valuable experience. Coach Dressler has a very deep team at Signal Mountain, none of the players we played today were in his top 9 and several were eighth-graders! Still, the only difference between those girls and boys and our's is playing time. His players know that it takes a year-round commitment to get better at tennis. That's the lesson I hope our players learned today.

Here are the results:

Signal Mtn JV Girls def. Hixson JV Girls 12-0

Girls Singles:

Sydney Adcock def. Michelle Phillips 8-3
Mary Grace Napoliton def. Haylee Gossett 8-2
Anna Killen Cameron def. Emily Davis 8-3
Catherine Agnew def. Kindall Billingsley 8-5
Katie Thompson def. Meagan Dagnan 8-0
Audrey Butler def. Lydia Lindsey 8-5
Katie Thompson def. Cicely McCoy 6-1
Audrey Butler def. Dista Rahyu 6-0

Girls doubles:

Adcock/Napoliton def. Phillips/Gossett 8-1
Cameron/Thompson def. Davis/Billingsley 8-1
Agnew/Butler def. Dagnan/Lindsey 8-5
Cameron/Thompson def. McCoy/Rahyu 8-1

Boys Singles:

Micajah Tucker def. Nathan Terrell 8-5
Jason Morris def. Kaleb Billinglsey 8-3

Boys Doubles:

Tucker/Morris def. Terrell/Billingsley 8-6


Up Next: Tentatively: April 2, Monday @ HOME vs. CSAS. If we have school on Monday and if the weather cooperates, we will play CSAS. Our girls should win this time, if everyone in our top six shows up. Our boys have to play better than they have thus far this season to have a chance. No practice or playing over the last five days does not make me very confident going in to this one.

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.