There were plenty of chances for the McCallie tennis team against chief rival Baylor on Tuesday night.
But those chances ultimately fell Baylor's way, as the Red Raiders won 5-2 at home in a matchup that was much closer than the final score might indicate.
The Raiders started strong, taking two out of three doubles matches to win a team point and the first two completed singles matches. Those wins by Alec Kadrie and Edward O'Neal put them up 3-0.
"It was a fight from the beginning in the doubles," Baylor coach Ned Caswell said. "We were lucky to pull it out. It's a big momentum changer when you win the doubles, because it forces the other team to win four out of six singles matches."
McCallie's Charlie Thel turned things around in the day's top matchup against Brandon Kali. With Kali up 5-2, Thel fought back to win the next three points and won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-2.
Thel kept that momentum, taking the second set easily at 6-2, and giving McCallie its first team point of the event.
"What a great win for Charlie Thel against a very good player," McCallie coach Jeff Clark said. "Charlie just raised his level of play a little bit to get back in the match, kept fighting and had a nice win."
A win by Evan Ellinger pulled McCallie to within one point with two matches still in progress.
"You could see the momentum swing," Caswell said. "Even though we were up 3-0, I couldn't feel the enthusiasm. McCallie really brought some great team enthusiasm."
In one of those matches, McCallie's Bruce Renner battled late in the second set with Ryan Toomey after Toomey took the first set 6-4. Meanwhile, on the adjacent court, Baylor's Ben Taverne and Blue Tornado Zan Meyer were set to start a third-set tiebreaker to decide the match.
Toomey prevailed in the second set 7-5, clinching the team win for Baylor, and Taverne won a thrilling tiebreaker 12-10 to cap off the Baylor victory.
"It just got away from us a little at the end," Clark said. "Baylor's team played well; we had chances and just didn't capitalize on them. I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm proud of our effort and that they kept fighting and stuck together as a team and keep getting better."
McCallie will have a chance to avenge the loss when it hosts Baylor on April 25.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com