MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For a portion of their Division II-AA championship tennis match against Montgomery Bell Academy, Baylor was able to match the intensity of the Big Red.
They just weren’t able to sustain it.
The Red Raiders won a pair of doubles matches to claim the first point of the state title tilt, but MBA battled back to win four of the five finished singles matches and defeated Baylor 4-2 for the championship at Old Fort Park Wednesday.
Baylor was feeling good after getting doubles wins from Carlos Cuevas and Alex Cooper, and Aditya Rali and Zach Moore. MBA came out intense, but the two wins gave Baylor a 1-0 edge and the Red Raider faithful something to cheer about.
“Winning doubles was amazing,” Baylor coach Ned Caswell said. “MBA came out and had lots of intensity, but I thought the guys matched it.
“The problem is, I think we spent a lot of energy cheering on the other guys.”
Carlos Cuevas had Baylor’s lone win at No. 2 singles.
“It wasn’t quite as good as yesterday, but we still had a great season,” Caswell said. “It’s easy to learn from winning, but for a team to have six better players than the group we have here is tough.”
Baylor’s match was part of a shutout for the local boys’ teams. In Class A/AA, Notre Dame fell 4-0 to Christian Academy of Knoxville, while McMinn County lost 4-0 to Brentwood for the Class AAA title.
“We went into the match knowing that we were going against the best,” McMinn coach Susan Ray said. “We wanted to go out and play our best, and at times we competed, so I’m pleased.”
McMinn ended with a 15-1 record and their second runner-up finish in the last three seasons.
“I would rather focus on the journey to get here,” Ray said. “Our goal was to get here. What happened with us getting to the championship match is icing on the cake. We reached our goal, so what else can I ask for?”