Beasts, Signal Mountain in state team semifinals

More than 500 boys and girls converged in Chattanooga this weekend for the biggest junior tennis event ever held in Tennessee.

The USTA Team Tennis state tournament -- district championships, actually -- made use of the Champions Club, McCallie School and the Racquet Club for pool play Friday and Saturday.

"This is the first time it's been in Chattanooga, but we started this in 2002," said Cathy Harris, the state junior team tennis coordinator since 2006. "In two years we've gone from 24 teams to 61 teams and from 160 kids to 500."

Not only is the 2009 event the biggest, but Harris said it has been the best.

"The venues are unmatched across the state, and it has gone very smoothly," she said, noting that rain Friday morning delayed the start by an hour but the schedule got caught up as the day progressed.

Rain hit again just as the last matches were winding up Saturday.

"Basically, everybody was almost done and we got all the (semifinal) teams decided," said Kyle Christensen, the local coordinator.

Each team match consists of one each in boys' and girls' singles, boys' and girls' doubles and mixed doubles. Total games won, not matches, determine the top finishers.

Eleven teams competing this weekend were from the Chattanooga area. Another local team, Team Burke, had no state competition in the 18-under advanced division and has an automatic berth in the Southern Section tournament late this month in Mobile, Ala.

Team Burke is comprised of Emily Burke, Kelyse Mauldin, Luke Orthner, Nathan Schley, Nick and Zach McCormick, Savannah Phillips and Victoria Anderson.

The sectional will include 18-, 14- and 12-under advanced and intermediate district champions. District semifinals in 18s, 14s and 12s intermediate all are set for 8 this morning at the Champions Club, unless rain forces them inside, with finals at 11. GPS's indoor courts are available as well as those at McCallie and the Racquet Club.

The "QuickStart" program includes 10-under and 8-under beginner teams playing on 60- and 27-foot-long courts, respectively, with low-compression balls, and the state event included those. Chattanooga had an entry in the new 10s division -- the Awesome 10s! with Alison Anderson, Christian Bout, Drake Christensen and Kendall Faulkner.

The Signal Mountain Middle School team went 4-0 in its 12s intermediate pool but was second to the 3-1 Knoxville Racquet Club Volleys, 137 games won to 129. Both are in the semifinals.

The Chattanooga Beasts won their 14s intermediate pool and also play in the semifinals.

In 14s advanced, Chattanooga's Southern Storm had a close match with their only competition, the Knoxville Racquet Club Red 14s. The Knoxville squad pulled out a 56-52 victory in games.