Hixson's Condra, Lady Bucs duo in tennis finals

Hixson tennis player Alex Condra returns the ball during his boys' Class A-AA state team tennis tournament semifinal match against Trinity Christian on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Hixson tennis player Alex Condra returns the ball during his boys' Class A-AA state team tennis tournament semifinal match against Trinity Christian on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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photo Soddy-Daisy's Olivia Crawley competes in her Class AAA quarterfinal doubles tennis match with teammate Chloe Mitchell against Siegel on Thursday, May 21, 2015, during the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
photo Cleveland's Jake Gibson competes in his Class AAA quarterfinal doubles tennis match with teammate Shivang Patel against Brighton on Thursday, May 21, 2015, during the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Sometimes you just need a little luck.

When the state-tournament draws came out for Class A/AA boys' tennis, Hixson's Alex Condra was on the side opposite Notre Dame's Charles Jabaley and Knoxville Catholic's Jacob Lorino -- two of the other top players.

Those two faced off in a quarterfinal match that Lorino won 6-3, 6-2. He then breezed in his semifinal.

Now Condra gets his turn with the state championship on the line.

He had two straight-sets victories Thursday at Old Fort Park and will face Lorino for the championship this morning.

Condra advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Page's Isaiah Polk, a scrappy player capable of extending rallies.

"I was consistent today and didn't make many errors," Condra said. "Against (Polk) I had to be consistent; you had to hit four or five winners to beat him."

Boyd-Buchanan's Katie Delay and Makenna Thomas will go for the A/AA girls' doubles title today after straight-sets wins. They'll face Christian Academy of Knoxville freshmen Allison Ivey and Elise DeNicola, who defeated Notre Dame's Sarah Joyce and Sarah Faith Ingell in the semifinals.

All boys' championship matches will start at 10 a.m. EDT; the girls' matches will begin at noon.

"This is the best feeling ever," Thomas said. "It's even better with us making it together. We had some nerves in the first game, but then we loosened up and just played free."

This will be Delay's third state final, as she played in two on the Lady Bucs volleyball team.

If the two win, they'll be the first players to win a tennis championship for Boyd-Buchanan since coach Tarah Garner did it in 2008 and 2009.

"She showed us where she won her different championships," Delay said of Garner.

Soddy-Daisy's Olivia Crawley and Chloe Mitchell fell in the Class AAA state semifinals against Bearden's Julia Adams and Brittany Foust, while Cleveland's Jake Gibson and Shivang Patel lost in the boys' semifinals to Knoxville West's Aubrey Davis and Matthew Maynard in a three-set match.

Notre Dame's J.R. Davis and Andrew Lisy and Hixson's Landon Goforth and Carl Phillips fell in A/AA semifinals.

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

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