Midway Day a Good One for the Wildcats!

Well folks, we've reached the midway point in our season. We have got 14 games on the schedule, and today we finished up #7 in fine fashion. Believe it or not, this was the first match of the season at the Racquet Club! It felt good to have a little home court advantage!

It was an absolute nail-biter for the Girls' team. We went in a little weaker than usual, because my #4 Seed, Corynne Schannuth, could not play due to soreness in her back. I wasn't too terribly concerned, because our girls won fairly easily the last time out, but I was forced to play some girls in doubles who had never really played together. Emily Gilreath filled in admirably for Coyrnne winning both her doubles (with Haylee Gossett) and her singles matches. While they didn't win, I thought Lydia Lindsey and Emily Davis did a terrific job in the #3 doubles slot-- they narrowly lost 7-9. Michelle Phillips also had a great day, winning her singles match and teaming up with Whitney Clack to win at #1 doubles. Big win for Emily Davis in the #6 slot, which ended up being the difference in the overall team match!

It was a little easier for the Boys. I think I may have found a solution for our doubles woes. Last time we played Central, we lost two out of three doubles matches, but this time we won two of three. That makes it a heck of a lot easier to get to five. George Ozborn turned in a great performance at #2 singles (winning 8-1), and he and Dylan Millwood managed to hold on to win at #1 doubles, 9-7. Corey Phillips and Rivers Defries both won their singles matches and teamed up together at #3 doubles to win as well. Also wanted to call your attention to Jacob Lindsey, who managed to beat the same player he lost to the first time we faced the Purple Pounders. Good job all around on the boys side!

Here are the full results:


Hixson Girls def. Central Girls 5-4

Girls' Singles:

Autumn Baker (C) def. Whitney Clack 8-5
Michelle Phillips (H) def. Christy Loden 8-4
Alex Bonner (C) def. Haylee Gossett 8-1
Emily Gilreath (H) def. Erin Jones 8-5
Tiffany Murray (C) def. Lydia Lindsey 9-8 (7-2)
Emily Davis (H) def. Alex Cotter 8-6

Girls' Doubles:

Clack/Phillips (H) def. Baker/Loden 8-4
Gossett/Gilreath (H) def. Bonner/Jones 8-5
Murray/Abigail Bell (C) def. Lindsey/Davis 9-7

Hixson Girls Record:
6-1 (Overall); 5-1 (District 6A/AA)

Hixson Boys def. Central Boys 6-3

Boys' Singles:

John Mitchell (C) def. Dylan Millwood 8-1
George Ozborn (H) def. Jeff Chastain 8-1
Cory Phillips (H) def. Walt Braley 8-3
Blake Ragsdale (C) def. Kevin Nguyen 8-2
Jacob Lindsey (H) def. Andrew Vickers 8-5
Rivers DeFries (H) def. Kevin Chang 8-2

Boys' Doubles:

Ozborn/Millwood (H) def. Mitchell/Braley 9-7
Chastain/Vickers (C) def. Lindsey/Nguyen 8-6
Phillips/DeFries (H) def. Ragsdale/Chang 8-4

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


UP NEXT: Wednesday, April 11 @ Signal Mountain. This might be the best all around (Boys and Girls) team we've faced so far. Signal Mountain is well coached, and very experienced. Should be a good learning experience!

Hurricanes Wash Away Wildcats.

First of all, I'd like to say that our boys played very well today. I was fully expecting for the East Hamilton boys to push us around, and that did not happen. In the end the Wildcats lost a tough one, 6-3. There were two close matches that maybe we should have closed out, at #2 doubles and #3 singles. We were ahead 6-3 in one of those matches, but we could not seal the deal. Sometimes these close ones are even harder to swallow, because this could have just as easily gone 5-4, in Hixson's favor.

The Girls matches on the other hand, were almost all blowouts in favor of the defending district champion, Lady Hurricanes. Our top five seeds only managed to win 10 games in singles. That's right: East Hamilton 40; Hixson 10. As you know, all you need is five wins to win a team match. East Hamilton got to five with relative ease. We have got to do better about fighting for games. I would like to point out that Haylee Gossett and Corynne Schannuth did keep us from suffering a shutout. They played a great doubles match against the same two girls who beat them in singles, proving that we have the talent to match up with East Hamilton, maybe we just need to find the heart.

Here are the full results.


East Hamilton Girls def. Hixson Girls 8-1

Singles:

Taylor Johnson (EH) def. Whitney Clack, 8-2
Hilleary Chandler (EH) def. Michelle Phillips, 8-0
Abigail Ware (EH) def. Haylee Gossett, 8-4
Katie Loftin (EH) def. Corynne Schannuth, 8-2
Sanna Peters (EH) def. Emily Gilreath, 8-2
Jessica Peters (EH) def. Lydia Lindsey, 8-6

Doubles:

Johnson/Chandler (EH) def. Clack/Phillips, 8-2
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Ware/Loftin, 8-4
Jordan Kaset/Carly Jones (EH) def. Gilreath/Maggie Ozborn, 8-2

Hixson Girls Record:
Overall 5-1; District 6A/AA 4-1


East Hamilton Boys def. Hixson Boys 6-3

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Daniel Jung, 8-2
George Ozborn (H) def. Clark Templeton, 8-5
Bailey Lenoir (EH) def. Cory Phillips, 8-6
Ryan Williamson (EH) def. Kevin Nguyen, 8-3
David Templeton (EH) def. Jacob Lindsey, 8-2
Matthew Sayne (EH) def. Rivers DeFries, 8-1

Doubles:

Millwood/Ozborn (H) def. Jung/C. Templeton, 9-8 (7-4)
Lenoir/Sayne (EH) def. Phillips/Nguyen, 8-6
Williamson/D. Templeton (EH) def. Lindsey/DeFries, 8-0

Hixson Boys Record:
Overall 2-4; District 6A/AA 2-3

Hixson Splits Again on Beautiful Lee University Campus

First of all, big thanks to all the parents who drove to Lee University today for our match with the Cleveland Raiders. Hopefully it was worth the drive to watch some tennis on such a picturesque campus. The DeVos Tennis Center (Pictured Above) is really a splendid facility, and I'm glad we got to play there. It was my first time playing Cleveland since taking the job at Hixson, and I hope we can come back!

The Cleveland Girls won their region last year, but that team had five seniors. We caught the Lady Raiders in a rebuilding year, and our girls managed to win pretty convincingly, 6-3. Whitney Clack stayed perfect on the season in singles, but she and Michelle Phillips could not keep their streak alive in doubles. Haylee Gossett won both her singles and doubles, as did Lydia Lindsey.

Our boys had their chances. Dylan Millwood won in singles and doubles, but the only other win we got was at #4 singles, with Kevin Nguyen (Pictured Below) outlasting his opponent, 8-6. All in all, a great learning experience for our young players.



Here are the results:


Hixson Girls def. Cleveland Girls 6-3

Singles:

Whitney Clack (H) def. Katherine Cantrell 8-6
Maddie Ohlsson (C) def. Michelle Phillips 8-6
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Briley Moore 8-2
Mallori Terry (C) def. Corynne Schannuth 8-4
Lydia Lindsey (H) def. Ansley McCarley 8-4
Emily Davis (H) def. Heidi Barringer 8-2

Doubles:

Cantrell/Ohlsson (C) def. Clack/Phillips 8-6
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Moore/Terry 9-8 (9-7)
Lindsey/Kayla Morgan (H) def. McCarley/Barringer 8-1

Record:

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

Cleveland Boys def. Hixson Boys 6-3

Singles:

Dylan Millwood (H) def. Zach Barringer 8-6
Roy Callahan (C) def. George Ozborn 8-4
Kevin Hutchinson (C) def. Cory Phillips 8-5
Kevin Nguyen (H) def. Jack Gibson 8-6
Matthew Harris (C) def. Rivers DeFries 8-5
Brett Howard (C) def. Nicholas Rodgers 8-3

Doubles:

Millwood/Ozborn (H) def. Barringer/Callahan 8-6
Hutchinson/Gibson (C) def. Phillips/Nguyen 8-4
Harris/Howard (C) def. DeFries/Lindsey 8-3


Record:

Hixson Boys 2-3 (Overall); 2-2 (District 6A/AA)

Up Next: Only one match next week, but it's a doozy. We head to Standifer Gap a week from today to play East Hamilton. Neither of these teams lost anyone of significance from the teams that beat us twice last season. My girls are greatly improved, while my boys are a bit weaker. The East Hamilton Girls team, are the defending District Champs, so my girls will have to play their best to have a chance. Should be fun to watch!

Trip to Warner Park Ends in a Split.

First the good news.

But I'm going to be honest with you. If you had told me after our Red Bank Scrimmage (March 8) that we would be sitting here on March 20 and that my girls would still be undefeated, I would not have believed you. I do not know what happened that day, but these girls did not play well, and I was seriously worried about the rest of the season. They have proved me wrong-- the kind of wrong a coach loves to be, by the way!

With the exception of the top two seeds who are seniors, the Lady Patriots are a very young team. My girls aren't exactly veterans, but CSAS started two 8th graders and two Freshmen in their top six. This lack of experience really showed in doubles, as my girls swept all three doubles courts. Once they got to singles, the Lady Patriots were a little bit better, winning two of the six matches, and nearly winning a third. Hixson's Whitney Clack (Pictured Below) won a tiebreaker to win at the #1 singles spot. The match should not have been that close, as Whitney was up 7-4, and we all watched in horror as her opponent won the next four games, before Whit tied it up at 8-8-- Whew! Maggie Ozborn lost a close one, 6-8, but I thought both those girls were pretty evenly matched and neither of them ever had a big lead. Otherwise, there was very little drama on the day as far as the girls were concerned. Michelle Phillips, Haylee Gossett and Emily Gilreath all won their singles matches easily. Corynne Schannuth dug herself quite a hole at 2-5, and then fought back to make it respectable (losing 5-8).



On the Boys' side, quite a different story. We would have struggled to put games on the board for our side even at full strength. George Ozborn, who normally plays the #2 Seed, was out today with some sort of stomach bug. So any hopes of pulling off an upset were pretty much dashed from the start. Much like our boys dominated East Ridge yesterday, CSAS took care of business and won every single court. I did see some good tennis from our boys, but we were no match. I told our boys to try to learn from the other side, hopefully when we play them again, we'll be a little more prepared-- and maybe with George in the lineup, we might surprise them!


Here are the results:

Hixson Girls def. CSAS Girls, 7-2

Singles:

Whitney Clack (H) def. Cindy Ormaza, 9-8 (7-4)
Michelle Phillips (H) def. Maria Alley, 8-1
Haylee Gossett (H) def. Sneha Mahesh, 8-4
Kirsten Johnson (C) def. Corynne Schannuth, 8-5
Emily Gilreath (H) def. Lauren Emmett, 8-3
Katie Foster (C) def. Maggie Ozborn, 8-6

Doubles:

Clack/Phillips (H) def. Alley/Johnson, 8-5
Gossett/Schannuth (H) def. Ormaza/Emmett, 8-5
Gilreath/Ozborn (H) def. Foster/Cadence Camp, 8-4


Hixson Girls' Record:

4-0 (District 6A/AA); 4-0 (Overall)


CSAS Boys def. Hixson Boys, 9-0

Singles:

Jackson Lenoir (C) def. Dylan Millwood, 8-4
Ian Derthick (C) def. Cory Phillips, 8-1
Raymond Kim (C) def. Kevin Nguyen, 8-1
Raja Moughrabi (C) def. Jacob Lindsey, 8-2
Chandler Custer (C) def. Rivers DeFries, 8-3
Visaal Sivakumar (C) def. Nicholas Rodgers, 8-1

Doubles:

Lenoir/Moughrabi (C) def. Millwood/Phillips, 8-3
Derthick/Kim (C) def. Nguyen/Lindsey, 8-0
Custer/Sivakumar (C) def. DeFries/Rodgers, 8-2

Hixson Boyss' Record:

2-2 (District 6A/AA); 2-2 (Overall)

Up Next: Thursday against Cleveland at Lee University. Not sure what to expect as we have never played Cleveland since I've been the coach at Hixson. I would assume they are good, especially on the girls side.