Mark Wiedmer"We definitely want to win this weekend," said Lady Red Raiders junior Drew Hawkins, who'll play No. 1 for the school when this year's Rotary begins today on the courts of Baylor, McCallie and GPS. "We always aim for a win."
They have won so much for so long that they have become to Tennessee high school girls' tennis what UConn is to women's college basketball. Though the private school that began in 1893 didn't return to admitting girls until 1985 - after becoming an all-male school in 1912 - it has won nine state girls' titles in the years since.
Nor does this current Lady Raiders run figure to end soon, given that all six of Baylor's top singles players are underclassmen, including No. 1 Hawkins, No. 3 Presley Thomas (sophomore) and No. 5 Ashton Jenne (junior).
"We've all grown up together," Thomas said. "Our families are close. We're all best friends. This team is kind of a family."
It is the hardest-working family in high school tennis, according to Jenne.
"We work really hard," she said. "We run way more than anybody else."
Added Hawkins: "There's no other school doing what we're doing. We train pretty much all year."
That training, according to former Baylor head coach Park Lockrow, consists of running three miles a day two days a week and sprints three other days.
"It's actually four sets of sprints, with four sprints per set," he said Thursday, a few minutes before the Lady Raiders would dispatch McCracken 5-2 in something of a warm-up match for the Rotary event. "It's like running 16 suicides. And it increases every week. By the end of the season, they may be running seven sets of sprints."
Yet if you think all of this work is pointed toward recapturing the Rotary title, you'd be at least a little bit wrong.
"It would mean a lot," said Baylor coach Dustin Kane, now in his seventh year at the school. "But our ultimate goal is winning the state. Everything up to it is preparing for that."
Kane does admit, however, that this group of girls is special, and he points to its recent DecoTurf Invitational title won on Baylor's courts last month against some of the best programs in the country as proof.
"That's one of the biggest, most prestigious tournaments in the country," said Kane, who also places the 32-team Rotary in that category. "And we've won it three times.
"This group of girls - and this core group has been together a long time - they've really bought into the program. Their work ethic is incredible. They practice longer and harder than anybody. And they're such a tight-knit group. Definitely a real team."
That real team, singles spots 1 through 6, will consist this weekend of Hawkins, Karolina Hakala, Thomas, Lauren Carelli, Jenne and Lilly Mooney, as fine a six-pack of tennis talent as exists anywhere in the Southeast.
And as that group readied for Thursday's match against McCracken County, a sports writer asked Thomas her view of the Baylor program, how she would describe it in a few words.
"Tradition," she began. "Lots of school spirit. Probably a legacy. And, of course, (the color) red."
Those are the kinds of words always tied to a true dynasty, regardless of the sport, which Baylor girls' tennis clearly is.
But before it can set its sights on that sixth straight state crown, there is the 60th annual Rotary Tournament trophy to attempt to return to the Baylor Lady Raiders' possession for the fifth time in six years.
Asked how they might celebrate if they win, Hawkins smiled and said, "Maybe go out to dinner, get some ice cream or something."
Just don't expect them to order Rocky Road if they're looking for a name that's symbolic of their championship run. Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake would be far more accurate.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com