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!

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

Signal Mountain Tames Wildcats.

What a great visit to Signal Mountain today.  This is the kind of early season match that will pay dividends down the road.  The final scores may look lopsided, but I can say I am proud of the way our kids competed up and down the boys' and girls' lineups.  I asked my kids to fight for every point, and that's exactly what they did.

The girls only managed one win on the day, but it was an important one at #1 Doubles.  Whitney Clack and Michelle Phillips remained perfect on the season with a win over a doubles team that ended up as the Runner Up in Region 4 last year.

For the boys, Carl Phillips (#2) and Richard Vuong (#5) managed to score wins in singles.  Both played near flawless matches.  All of the boys played well in doubles, but this Signal Mountain team is well coached and they have a good bit more experience than our team.

As I said, I am quite pleased with the way we played.  Heading into tomorrow's district match against Central, we will need to keep this level of play going.

Here are the results:

Signal Mountain Girls def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Girls Singles:

Kylila Tucker (SM) def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Shelby O'Quinn (SM) def. Michelle Phillips 8-5
Natalie Palmer (SM) def. Haylee Gossett 8-0
Anna Cameron (SM) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-2
Allwyn Fisher (SM) def. Emily Davis 8-3
Colleen Conner (SM) def. Lydia Lindsey 8-6

Girls Doubls:

Clack/Phillips (H) def. Tucker/Palmer 8-5
O'Quinn/Fisher (SM) def. Gossett/Schannuth 8-2
Cameron/Tess McCain (SM) def. Davis/Lindsey 8-2

Boys Singles:

Forrest Hooten (SM) def. Alex Condra 8-4
Carl Phillips (H) def. Adam Wolfe 9-7
Harrison Smith (SM) def. Jacob Lindsey 8-1
Jason Morris (SM) def. Kevin Nguyen 8-3
Richard Vuong (H) def. Zach Brown 8-5
Luke Blentlinger (SM) def. Rivers De'Friese 8-2

Boys Doubles:

Hooten/Wolfe (SM) def. Condra/Phillips 8-5
Smith/Brown (SM) def. Nguyen/Vuong 8-4
Blentlinger/Micajah Tucker (SM) def. Lindsey/De'Friese 8-4

UP NEXT:  Thursday, March 21 @ Chattanooga Central.  I cannot emphasize enough how important this match is for both the Girls and the Boys.  Both our teams would have a huge leg up in our regular season District race if they can take care of business at Lakeside Courts.  Central has some veteran players, hungry to beat Hixson.  We will need to play our best.

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.