Guerry, Caswell play for USTA title and other sports news

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Chattanoogans Zan Guerry and Ned Caswell will play today for the USTA Men's 50 Grass Court national doubles championship at Philadelphia after they defeated the No. 2 seeds Thursday. The fifth-seeded Guerry and Caswell, both prominently identified with Manker Patten and Baylor School, as well as Chattem in Guerry's case, won 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 over Jeffrey Burnett of North Palm Beach, Fla., and Mitchell Perkins of Seattle. The Chattanooga duo will face top-seeded Douglas Elly of Springfield, Mo., and Ken White of Elma, N.Y., in the final this afternoon. Elly and White won their semifinal in three sets also. Perkins, a singles fifth seed, beat Chattanooga's Philip Johnson, the Baylor boys' coach and a No. 9 seed, 7-5, 6-3 in their 50s quarterfinal.

Soccer

• Covenant College women's soccer coach Mark Duble has eight returning starters and 10 other returners as the Lady Scots begin the 2014 season today at Rhodes. They play Texas-Dallas at the Memphis school Saturday. Senior Bethany Logan scored 11 goals, including five game-winners, for an injury-hampered Covenant team that finished 9-8-2 overall and 7-3-2 in the USA South. Senior goalkeeper Lucy Johnson and All-USAS Andrea Hunt plus fellow sophomores Natalie Smith, Kaitlyn Winking and Rachel Setzer return from a defense that allowed only 24 goals and had nine shutouts in 2013. "We will still be good back there and more experienced," said Duble, who's beginning his 21st season as the only coach in program history. "We'll be a dangerous team once again this season." Sophomore Gabby Powell and juniors Anne Charlotte Strawbridge and Jessica Rowe are healthy after enduring injuries last season.

Volleyball

• Covenant also is among the area colleges tipping off their volleyball seasons this weekend, and the Lady Scots return All-USA South first-team hitter Chelsea VanDyk, third-team senior setter Stephanie Kirkpatrick and four other proven juniors in Hannah Rogers, Cora Schroeder, Jaclyn Stuart and Kelsey Mathis from a team that went 21-11 and 11-5 in its league debut. Sophomores Caroline McLeod and Mariah Corney are other returners for second-year coach Joanna Ehman and Covenant, which was picked to finish third behind Piedmont and Maryville in the league's South Division. "We were competitive last year and we feel we can build on that," Ehman said. "Our returners are hungry and motivated after the way last year ended (in the tournament semifinals)." She also has added a transfer and seven freshmen. They open today in a tournament at Birmingham-Southern.

Upcoming Events