Top-seeded Wesley Cash of Chattanooga and Mark Vines of Naples, Fla., lost 6-2, 6-4 to No. 2 seeds Randall Berg and Doug Ditmer in the USTA Men 60 Hard Court national doubles final Saturday at Rancho Mirage, Calif. "They just outplayed us," said Cash, who with Vines has played in 12 consecutive major national and world age-group finals and won the first eight of them. Cash also has two titles with another partner. Vines plays for the singles title today.
- The UTC women's tennis team won 4-3 Saturday at Mercer and now is 13-6 overall and 3-2 in the Southern Conference. Sophomores Caroline Hall, Mckenzie Barco and Delaney Edwards got the singles wins to clinch thc victory.
- Covenant College's men and women won USA South West Division regular-season tennis titles with 8-1 wins Saturday at LaGrange. The Covenant men (12-9, 7-1), who have set a program record for wins, won a coin toss to edge Piedmont for the No. 1 seed in the league tournament this week at LaGrange. The Lady Scots are 12-7, 7-0.
- The 16th-ranked Sewanee women's tennis team won 8-1 and the No. 18 Sewanee men won 9-0 in SAA play Saturday against Birmingham-Southern.
Basketball
- Hiwassee's Will Raby recently was named the National Christian College Athletlc Association Mideast Region men's basketball coach of the year. In his third year as coach of the Tigers, they won the region tournament as the top seed and qualified for the national tournament in Indiana. It was Hiwassee's first appearance in the NCCAA Division I nationals. Eleven of the 14 Tigers are expected to return next season. "Preparation started exactly three years ago when I brought my recruits in, and I have kept them here," Raby said in a school release. "Having the stability and keeping players in the program has really been the key. What made this year special was that every single player bought in to what we were trying to accomplish."
Fishing
- West Coast transplant John Murray, now a Spring City resident, zoomed from 34th place to third with the biggest haul of the day - 23 pounds, 7 ounces - Saturday in the Bassmaster Elite tournament at Toledo Bend. Two of his keepers weighed 7-10 and 6-12 as he reached 52-11 for three days. Jamie Hartman of Newport, N.Y., at 56-15 with Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., at 53-3. The top 12 go out for the final round today.
Baseball
- Lee University lost 11-4 and 5-3 to visiting Union University in Gulf South Conference baseball Saturday, but Nathan Wierzgac had an RBI in the first game and went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in the second loss. Also in the second game, Jordan Howard was 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Flames (21-17, 9-14). Tyler Payne was 2-for-3 with an RBI in the opener. Harvey and Forrest Hunter each had two hits in the loss.
- Bryan College lost 7-4 and won 9-6 against visiting Union College in AAC baseball. Lake Burris hit a two-run homer in each game and Tyler Scott was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and Fernando Garcia was 1-for-2 and scored twice for Bryan (27-13, 11-7) in game one. Trevor Behrent was 3-for-3 with two homers, five RBIs and four RBIs in the Lions' win, when Burris had three RBIs and Garcia was 3-for-4 with a homer.
- Cleveland State won 5-3 and lost 6-4 in TCCAA baseball Saturday at Volunteer State. John Sharpe was 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs in the win for the Cougars (25-11, 10-8), while John Hennen was 2-for-4 and scored a run and Jake Rogers ( 7-0) struck out six in a complete game. Chase Fullington was 3-for-3 with a run and Devon Gardner was 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI single in the loss.
- Covenant lost 3-2 in 11 innings and won 11-10 in 10 in its USA South doubleheader at Piedmont. The Scots (13-20, 6-12) set up the win by scoring six runs in the ninth inning after giving up a four-run eighth. Luke Harvey was 5-for-6 with two stolen bases, four runs scored and an RBI in that game, when Joel Johnson drove in three runs and Caleb Bloye was 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs.
- Sewanee fell 4-2 and 12-5 to visiting Rhodes in SAA baseball. Max Murray was 2-for-3 in the first game for the Tigers (14-16, 6-7) and 1-for-2 and scored a run in the rematch, when Trey Akins was 2-for-4 with a two-run double, Jackson Cooper 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Drew Mancuso and Tony Dykes each 2-for-4 also.
General
- UTC athletic director David Blackburn will be the guest speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without.