Coming into the season, Arts & Sciences tennis coach Jerry Pate was pretty confident that he would have one doubles team advance to the Class A/AA state individual tournament, as twins Ahmee and Kayla Kelly — the defending girls’ state champions — returned.
Pate’s total doubled.
Jackson Lenoir and Andrew Ball claimed the Region 3-A/AA boys’ title Monday at Standifer Gap Park, defeating Collegedale Academy’s Patrick O’Brien and Jordan Evans 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 to give CSAS two pairs in next week’s Spring Fling state championships in Murfreesboro.
“At the beginning of the year, our doubles lineup wasn’t set,” Pate said. “We decided to tinker around with lineups and saw they worked well together.”
Pate felt OK about Lenoir and Ball’s chances Monday.
“I felt like they had the potential,” the coach said. “They’re good players. I was a little concerned in the second set, but they put it together and won in the third.”
The Kelly sisters, who played their semifinal match Friday, were well-rested and pounced on Boyd-Buchanan’s Taylor Eades and Emily Brown, 6-2, 6-0.
“Those girls are very confident in what they do,” Pate said. “They’ve played together for so many years, they just know where the other is going to be and what shot the other is going to make.
“It helps a lot.”
The region singles championships went to East Hamilton’s Nick McCormick, who lost a total of seven games in two Monday matches to claim the boys’ crown, and Red Bank’s Amy Metcalf, who the first set and was down in the second before rallying to defeat Silverdale Baptist’s Lauren Milligan 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 — Metcalf’s second win over the Lady Seahawks senior in the past five days.
The diminutive McCormick ran his season record to 15-0 with the two victories.
“He was just as aggressive as always,” Hurricanes coach Jeff Stetzler said. “He has quite a bit of swagger to him. I’d rather see him play like he always plays and lose, as opposed to dinking the ball around.
“I’m proud of him for getting our first region title.”
Region 4-A/AA: Notre Dame advanced three players to the state tournament with wins in the tournament at Tennessee Tech. John Dorris will be going to the individual state tournament for the first time after defeating Lookout Valley’s Christian Eaves 6-0, 6-2 in the singles final.
The Lady Irish’s Callie Voges and Katie Joyce advanced in doubles, while Chattanooga Christian’s Ellie Henry defeated Signal Mountain’s Danielle Linhart 6-4, 6-1 for the girls’ singles title.
Region 3-AAA: Cleveland’s Kelsey Cantrell claimed a spot in the Class AAA state tournament Monday by defeating teammate Catherine Jordan in a three-set singles final at Cookeville High School. Cantrell will join McMinn County’s Trey Royal and Josh Young, who won the doubles title.
Ooltewah’s Katie Woodham and Hollie Whitener fell in a three-set final.