Hawkins, GPS duo win state tennis titles

May 23, 2015 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated May 22, 2015 at 9:55 p.m.

by Gene Henley

Baylor tennis player Drew Hawkins returns the ball during her D-II AA state girls tennis tournament championship match against Brentwood's Mackenzie Philips on May 21, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Baylor tennis player Drew Hawkins returns the ball during her D-II AA state girls tennis tournament championship match against Brentwood's Mackenzie Philips on May 21, 2015, at the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The dreams of winning a state tennis singles championship began to creep into the mind of Baylor sophomore Drew Hawkins four seasons ago.

That dream became a reality Friday.

Hawkins cruised to a straight-sets victory over Brentwood Academy's Mackenzie Phillips in the championship match at Old Fort Park.

Girls Preparatory School's Maddox Bandy and Jenna Thorstenson defeated Baylor's Lilly Mooney and Lauren Carelli in the Division II-AA doubles final.

McCallie's Cody Gubin fell to Montgomery Bell Academy's George Harwell in the boys' singles final, while Baylor's Jack Gray and Chad Woodham lost to Memphis University School's Spencer Richey and Michael Apple in the doubles final.

Coming off a tough semifinal match Thursday, Hawkins entered Friday's match focused.

"I really wanted this," Hawkins said. "I wasn't missing a lot, and I'm glad, because she got to everything. This feeling is awesome."

Bandy and Thorstenson, the self-described "Queens of Comebacks," rallied after dropping the first set for the second consecutive match to defeat Carelli and Mooney 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Bandy blamed the start on nerves. Thorstenson said their closeness aids them in such situations.

"We're such good friends that we know each other's games," she said. "That helps us get back into matches."

The two seemed to be set on returning next season to defend their champioship.

"I've never been this happy," Thorstenson said. "It's so exciting, and so fun to be a champion."

Woodham and Gray lost 6-4, 6-7 (11-9), 6-3. They were up 6-5 in the second set and lost four set points to set up the tiebreaker. They went down 6-3 in the tiebreaker but rallied to tie at 6, then finally got even for the match when a return by Apple went long.

"It was a breath of fresh air, but we had to refocus at that point and I think we relaxed," Gray said.

Woodham said the duo have worked hard on improving their craft. They entered the season expecting to compete in singles in the postseason but made the decision late to play doubles.

"Every match we played together, we got better and better," he said. "We entered today knowing it was our last match in high school and our last opportunity to win a championship, and we did everything we could to win.

"We left it all out on the court."

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

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