Lady Trojans face perennial champs in state tennis debut

Chloe Mitchell
Chloe Mitchell

TSSAA State Tennis Team Championships

Today at Old Fort Park in Murfreesboro Class A/AA * Hixson boys vs. Trinity Christian, 2 * Notre Dame girls vs. Lipscomb Academy, 4 Class AAA * Soddy-Daisy girls vs. Ravenwood, 4 Division II-AA * McCallie vs. Memphis University School, 10 a.m. * Baylor boys vs. Montgomery Bell Academy, 10 a.m. * GPS vs. Hutchison, noon * Baylor girls vs. Harpeth Hall, noon

The Soddy-Daisy girls' tennis team slayed a dragon in their Class AAA state sectional last week.

Another one awaits the Lady Trojans this afternoon.

In their first-ever state tournament appearance, the Lady Trojans will face five-time defending state champion Ravenwood in the semifinals. The match begins at 4 p.m. EDT at Old Fort Park in Murfreesboro.

Soddy-Daisy is one of seven area teams participating in the tournament, joining Baylor's boys and girls, GPS and McCallie in Division II-AA and Hixson's boys and Notre Dame's girls in A/AA.

To reach their first Final Four, the Lady Trojans had to defeat Siegel, which had defeated them in back-to-back seasons in sectionals. A 4-1 loss in 2013 was trimmed to 4-2 last season, and the Lady Trojans flipped the script in a 4-1 humbling of the Lady Stars last week at the Champions Club.

"It's a big deal for us," senior Chloe Mitchell, who will play both tennis and volleyball at Tennessee Wesleyan this coming school year, said Monday. "We're a young team, and our goal has been to go to state.

"As long as we play good, I'm going to be proud of this team. We want to win, but we really want to play well."

Sophomore Olivia Crawley said beating Siegel was a "burden off the shoulders" and the team celebrated like it, meeting on the court for a group hug after the final point had been won. Having gone up to Murfreesboro to watch in years past, she realizes the environment and atmosphere will be different than a regular match.

"It's much more lively," she said. "There are a lot of people cheering, and it's much more intense."

She said that while defeating Ravenwood won't be the easiest of tasks, the Lady Trojans are not making the trip believing it's impossible.

"It will be tough to beat them, but we feel if we play our best, we can do it," she said.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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