Arya Kallambella’s star play on the tennis court as a Baylor School senior this past spring helped the Red Raiders return to the top in state competition while also gaining national attention.
Kallambella was among 17 Chattanooga-area players selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s all-state tennis teams released late Wednesday night, just more than a month after he made his mark at the TSSAA Spring Fling.
During team and individual competition that week in Murfreesboro, Kallambella dominated as he did not drop a set and outscored his opponents a combined 77-30 in games in singles and doubles play while leading the Red Raiders to their first team state championship since 2016 and winning the Division II-AA boys’ singles crown.
Kalambella, who is from Bangalore, India, is moving on to play for Denison University, an NCAA Division III program in Granville, Ohio. He earned national prestige in his final prep season, when he was ranked No. 34 among high school boys by Universal Tennis Rating and listed at No. 77 by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
Kallambella won his DII-AA singles title by outscoring his opposition 37-19 in three matches at the Spring Fling, including a 6-4, 7-5 win against Michael Wang of Chattanooga rival McCallie to clinch the championship. In the DII-AA team tournament, Kallambella outscored his opponents 24-6 in singles and 16-5 in doubles while helping the Red Raiders beat Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy 5-0 in the semifinals and McCallie 4-0 in the title match.