Notre Dame tennis coach Anne Ricksecker said her girls' team had built toward defeating district rival Chattanooga Christian. The Lady Irish were able to get there Tuesday, with the help of a girl celebrating her 15th birthday.
Freshman Sarah Joyce won in singles and doubles, and the Lady Irish celebrated their first victory over the Lady Chargers in 15 years with a 7-2 victory at the Champions Club. The Chattanooga Christian boys beat Notre Dame by the same score.
The matches were a reversal of fortunes from recent history, as the CCS girls and Notre Dame boys have controlled the rivalry.
Joyce, sister Katie and Danika Dorris, Allyson Ross and Anna McIntyre posted singles victories for Notre Dame (4-0, 2-0 7-A/AA). Sarah then teamed with Dorris for a victory in doubles, and Ross and Bridget Haywood won together as well.
"I felt like we were close last season," Ricksecker said. "The girls have worked very hard for this, and it was nice to see us together and get the victory.
"It's not the end of the season, but it was good to get this one."
Barrett Schock, Matthew Day, Austin Mays, David Herberich and Ian Cooper were victorious for CCS's boys, who improved to 3-0 and 2-0 in 7-A/AA. Day and Mays won in doubles, as did Nick Gillette and Tim Payne.
"I felt that the guys could pull it off and I'm proud of that," CCS coach Renato Mizutani said. "We're both good teams, but we have some depth that Notre Dame is lacking this season."