Universal Tennis has ranked McCallie the nation’s No. 2 boys’ team in the country ahead of the 2021-22 high school tennis season, behind only Plano West Senior High School of Texas.
The Blue Tornado are the two-time reigning DII-AAA state champions, have a 32-1 record since 2019, finished fifth in the prestigious DecoTurf Nationals in 2019 and have sent more than 80 players on to collegiate tennis over the years.
“I’m so happy for the team to receive this recognition from Universal Tennis, as there are so many great high school teams and players all across the country,” McCallie head coach Jeff Clark said in a school release.
“Our boys work hard and support one another on the practice court, in the weight room and in the campus community. It is a joy for the coaches to work with them and see them grow into young men of character, service and leadership.”
Clark starred for McCallie in 1991 before signing with Vanderbilt, then playing professionally. He is assisted by former McCallie head coach and player Eric Voges, now the head of the school’s tennis operations and a former University of Tennessee player. Meg Bandy and Gary McIntyre – who also played college tennis – are also assistants.
Said McCallie headmaster Lee Burns, who was a Blue Tornado tennis standout in the mid-1980s: “With an incredible coaching staff and world-class tennis facilities, the McCallie tennis program develops outstanding players.”
The program’s only higher ranking in a national poll was No. 1 in 1977 under 1965 grad Turner Howard, who later become a Knoxville attorney and a McCallie trustee.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.