Big Bang's Power distributed

Saturday, April 21, 2012

photo Alex Klibisz, a tennis player for Cleveland High School, plays a match on Friday, April 20, 2012, at Standifer Gap Tennis Courts during the Big Bang Tennis Tournament.

It's always good when athletes feel they have an opportunity to win a tournament. Four area girls' high school tennis teams enter today with that feeling.

East Hamilton, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley are all tied for the top in the Power Division of the Big Bang Tennis Tournament, which has been held at four sites the past two days. Each of the four has one loss, and the champion will be determined based on some head-to-head matches this morning.

East Hamilton's Lady Hurricanes won Friday over Cleveland but fell to Signal Mountain in their next match. They have matches with Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley today at Standifer Gap Park. Signal's Lady Eagles, who swept doubles against East Hamiton for a 6-3 victory, surprised their head coach with their play in the final match of the day in the Power Division.

"We played them earlier in the season, and it came down to one match," Signal coach Keith Dressler said. "We were down a little after losing a couple of matches that we thought we were capable of winning, so I'm super proud of our ability to come back and do so well in doubles."

Play starts at 10 this morning at Middle Valley, Lakeside and Standifer Gap. Should two teams finish in a tie after today's matches, the winner will be determined based on the total number of matches won in the matches played.

The boys' division is a little more clear-cut, appearing to come down to the final match of the day between Arts & Sciences and East Hamilton, each of which won two matches Friday. The Hurricanes still have a match against Signal Mountain this morning, and the Patriots will face Grace Academy at 11:30 a.m.

CSAS had to rally to defeat Signal on Friday, earning wins in all three doubles matches after falling behind 4-2 in singles.

"I thought we played well in spots," CSAS coach Jerry Pate said. "There were also some spots that we could show some improvement."

In the Club Division, Christian Heritage claimed both the girls' and the boys' titles. Each finished 3-0, and together they lost a total of six games in the six matches.