It's a New Year!

Conditioning has started! A group of very dedicated Hixson High School tennis players old and new showed up on a relatively mild January day to knock the cobwebs off their game. Returning players in attendance: Candace Cline (SR), Dylan Millwood (JR), Cory Phillips (JR), Jae Yoo (JR), Whitney Clack (SO) & Kayla Morgan (SO). Some new players who showed up: Meagan Dagnan (SO), Nathan Terrell (FR) & Emily Davis (FR).

Though I would have liked to have seen more players, I'm quite pleased with the turnout as these workouts are voluntary and the students are technically still on vacation. Once school starts on Wednesday, I expect the numbers to swell a bit. Which reminds me: We got lucky this week as the temperatures are going to be somewhat warm for this time of year, but these kids need to be dressed properly for the weather. They need to dress in layers of moisture wicking materials. Wiki has a great article about it if you need some direction: Layered Clothing.

We still need to have a parent meeting, but I'm not sure when that is going to take place yet. Hopefully within the next two weeks, but certainly before the end of January. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I could use all the help I can get in recruiting new players (especially underclassman boys!). So if you know of anyone who might be interested in playing tennis (no experience required) please send them my way.

Thanks, and as always feel free to call, text, or email me with any questions or comments.

The Regular Season Ends In Another Split.

I think I predicted our Boys would do better in our second match against Red Bank. Our team proved me right. We narrowly lost the first time around, 5-4. Today we took care of business and won 7-2. Big Congrats to our 3-6 seeds, who were all perfect on the day, winning their singles and doubles matches!

On the Girls side, what can you say. Coach Wagner has a talented bunch of players over there, and they have only gotten better. They went undefeated in our district and even beat teams from much bigger schools. On the plus side, we did manage to win two doubles matches against their reserves. Here are the results:


Red Bank Girls defeat Hixson Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Amy Metcalf (RB) def. Allison Cowart 8-1
Kristen Camp (RB) def. Candace Cline 8-0
Ivory Conley (RB) def. Ashton Summers 8-0
Megan Long (RB) def. Whitney Clack 8-1
Danielle Hargis (RB) def. Torey Hart 8-0
Claire Cox (RB) def. Kayla Morgan 8-2

Girls Doubles:

Conley/Long (RB) def. Cowart/Summers 8-1
Cline/Clack (H) def. Julia Reed/Ahmee Desai 8-3
Hart/Morgan (H) def. Sadie Kerlie/Taylor Lewis 8-5

Hixson Boys defeat Red Bank Boys 7-2

Boys Singles:

Mark Colbert (RB) def. George Ozborn 8-3
Dylan Millwood (H) def. Nic Gagliano 8-2
Corey Phillips (H) def. Jonathan Campbell 8-2
Eric Barr (H) def. Brandon Lewis 8-4
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Saagar Desai 8-3
Jae Yoo (H) def. Matthew Smith 8-4

Boys Doubles:

Colbert/Gagliano (RB) def. Ozborn/Millwood 8-3
Phillips/Barr (H) def. Campbell/Desai 9-7
Craft/Yoo (H) def. Lewis/Smith 8-2

Up Next: The District Tournament, Monday, May 10 -- don't hold me to this, but I think the matches are going to start around noon. I wish I could say that the hay is in the barn here, but it's not. We've still got a lot to try to improve upon between now and Monday afternoon. Our Varsity teams will practice at least Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and if I can get away with it, I might hold an optional practice on Mother's Day.

A Hard Fought Split.

Under summer-like conditions we met up with East Hamilton today at the Racquet Club to play a match that had been postponed due to Rain last week. The Hurricanes showed today why they are the team of the future in our district for the boys, as they almost managed to score a victory over us with their top 4 seeds missing. Our program still has some catching up to do, and I think our boys are beginning to really understand this.

Today's team match came down to the #2 Doubles which was still the last match going with the Wildcats dead even with Hurricanes at 4 wins apiece. My second and third seed doubles teams were both playing up today. I had decided this heading into the match, for two reasons. First, Eric & Corey and Jae & Jonathan will all be playing doubles in the upcoming District Tournament. So going up against a tough opponent in East Hamilton, I wanted to take advantage of this and have them play the best possible competition today. I also wanted to allow my #7 & 8 seeds some more match experience. Corey & Eric took care of business, while Russ & Alex played well in a losing cause. That left it all up to Jonathan & Jae. They were the last ones to finish in singles, so they were the last to go on in doubles. They played a near flawless match and won easily 8-3 to seal the victory-- our third district win.

On the girls side of the house, once again I had attendance issues. Two of my top three girls are involved with the Hixson Spring Choir Concert, and could only play singles, while two others were absent. Heading into the match down three is a serious uphill battle. We managed two wins in singles, but could muster no more. Here are the results:

East Hamilton Girls Defeat Hixson Girls 7-2

Girls Singles Results:

Allison Cowart (H) def. Abigail Ware 8-2
Candace Cline (H) def. Ashley River 8-5
Gabrielle Fern (EH) def. Ashton Summers 8-0
Katie Loftin (EH) def. Whitney Clack 8-4
Kayla Dyer (EH) def. Torey Hart 8-3
Paige Clark (EH) won by forfeit

Girls Doubles Results:

Ware/River (EH) def. Cowart/Hart 8-4
Clark/Ally Crum (EH) won by forfeit
Joanna Tang/Niki Legac (EH) won by forfeit

Hixson Boys Defeat East Hamilton Boys 5-4

Singles Results:

Tej Dhond (EH) def. George Ozborn 8-6
Dylan Millwood (H) def. Randsom Mark 8-6
David Templeton (EH) def. Corey Phillips 8-5
Eric Barr (H) def. River Mark 8-5
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Matt Sayne 8-1
Hunter Delaney (EH) def. Jae Yoo 8-4

Boys Doubles Results:

Phillips/Barr (H) def. Ryan Williamson/Chang Lee 8-5
Craft/Yoo (H) def. Templeton/River Mark 8-5
Tyler Simpson/Matt Sayne (EH) def. Russ Rebennack/Alex Shuford 8-4

Up Next: Our last regular season match is the continuance of our Red Bank Match which was shortened due to inclement weather last week. We are very much in the hunt for a win on the boys side. Play will start at 3:30pm at the Racquet Club.

How Sweep It Is!

For the first time this season our tennis teams managed a sweep! Both our boys and girls teams won easily. The girls even managed a win while forfeiting #6 singles and #3 doubles, because Ashton Summers and Caroline Daugherty were both absent. None of the girls who played lost. The boys won five of six singles matches and took another in doubles. I was able to give George and Dylan the day off in doubles, and Russ Rebennack and Alex Shufford (pictured below) played admirably in their first real match together at #3. They lost 8-5, but in order to get the matches done a little sooner, they actually played Lookout Valley's #2 team.



It's great to win, but it is even better to improve. I know our kids can get a little discouraged when they look at our won/loss record, but here's positive proof that we have improved: Last year our boys got blown out by Lookout Valley 7-0. Christian Eaves beat George Ozborn 6-0 (we played abbreviated pro sets due to the weather), today he was up 3-1, although Eaves didn't allow him to win another game, the score looks more lopsided than it was. I think he lost three games in row at deuce. A couple of points here or there, and George pulls this match out. Corey Phillips beat a guy today 8-3 that he lost to a year ago 6-3. Huge improvement. The guy Dylan Millwood beat today 8-4 beat our #2 last year 6-3 (Dylan played #4 in the match last year!). I am really proud of this bunch.

Here are the results:

Hixson Girls Defeat Lookout Valley Girls 7-2

Girls Singles:

Allison Cowart (H) def. Torey Yates 8-6
Candace Cline (H) def. Hope Gibson 8-1
Whitney Clack (H) def. Jessi Lowrance 8-1
Torey Hart (H) def. Hayley Brown 8-0
Kayla Morgan (H) def. Coti San 8-5
Brooklynn Burleson (LV) won by forfeit

Girls Doubles:

Cline/Clack (H) def. Gibson/Brown 8-1
Cowart/Hart (H) def. Burleson/Charis Dowell 8-2
San/Lawrence (LV) won by forfeit

Hixson Boys defeat Lookout Valley Boys 6-3

Boys Singles:

Christian Eaves (LV) def. George Ozborn 8-3
Dylan Millwood (H) def. Clayton Fuller 8-4
Corey Phillips (H) def. David Jones 8-3
Eric Barr (H) def. Mathew Dillard 8-1
Jonathan Craft (H) def. Sam Hartley 8-3
Jae Yoo (H) def. Katyen Tweedy 8-0

Boys Doubles:

Eaves/Fuller (LV) def. Phillips/Barr 8-1
Craft/Yoo (H) def. Hartley/Tweedy 8-0
Jones/Dillard (LV) def. Russ Rebennack/Alex Shuford 8-5

Up Next: East Hamilton on Monday @ 3:30pm @ the Racquet Club. The weather does not look good, but hopefully we'll get this one in as it is a district match. the boys will have their hands full, but if all my girls show up, we might snag a second "W" in a row!