Signal Mountain tennis earns Big Bang event's Power titles

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Although they had been able to enjoy some individual success over the years, the Signal Mountain tennis teams had not been able to win collective trophies.

Consider that drought over.

The Eagles and Lady Eagles swept the Power division titles of the Big Bang tournament Friday at Manker Patten Tennis Club. The Signal Mountain girls defeated Soddy-Daisy and Arts & Sciences, while the Signal boys had wins over St. Andrew's-Sewanee, Arts & Sciences and Chattanooga Christian -- the last in a de facto "championship" match, which the Eagles won 5-2.

The match was stopped when Signal Mountain was declared champion. Roger Trombley rallied from down 7-2 in the No. 6 singles match to clinch the win with a 9-8 (7-5) victory.

The Lady Eagles cruised to their title, their toughest match being a 6-3 win over previously unbeaten Soddy-Daisy on Thursday. In their final match, Anna Cameron and Allwyn Fisher had title-clinching 8-4 wins within moments of each other.

"I think this shows that we can compete at the highest level," said Fisher, nursing a wrist injury. "I didn't really know how Anna was doing; I was just focused on winning my match because I had a hard match yesterday."

Signal Mountain and Chattanooga Christian will play Thursday in an important District 7-A/AA match, two days after the Eagles play rival Notre Dame.

"This was a good tournament for us," Signal coach Keith Dressler said. "Our boys are really starting to play well."

Christian Heritage's teams swept the Club division titles, with the boys defeating White County and Soddy-Daisy, while the girls beat White County and St. Andrew's-Sewanee. The Lions teams, who are playing their first season in the Georgia High School Association, played their final matches Friday.

"I think as a team we've had a great season," Christian Heritage coach Elizabeth Hardaway said. "We came together and made a lot of improvement along the way."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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