The Hixson boys' tennis team returned three players from a group that advanced to the 2014 Class A/AA state semifinals.
That experience in a postseason setting paid dividends Friday.
The Wildcats from District 6 needed just over an hour to dispense of District 5 champion Collegedale Academy and earn the Region 3-A/AA championship. Hixson (10-3) inched closer to a repeat berth at the Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, as the Wildcats will host Signal Mountain -- which defeated Macon County in the Region 4 finals -- next week in a state sectional match.
Hixson was solid in the win. Carl Phillips was the first player off the court and soon was followed by Angel Salinas, Landon Goforth, Richard Vuong and Alex Condra. The five dropped a total nine games in the 10 sets.
Part of it was that they were relaxed after a day off Thursday, due to the fact all five players are juniors and had AP exams.
"We'd had three hard days of practice before yesterday," Hixson coach Raul Fernandez said. "We worked on our serves more than ever; we probably had a thousand serves this week."
Friday marked the end of the season for Collegedale. Hixson has Condra competing in the region individual singles tournament and Phillips and Goforth playing in the doubles tournament, which begins Monday at 3:30 at Champions Club.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.