CLEVELAND, Tenn. – It was pretty relaxing for Collegedale Academy’s Patrick O’Brien and Jordan Evans to look across the net and see Collegedale opponents.
But it didn’t change their desire to win.
O’Brien and Evans took care of business in the District 5-A/AA tournament finals Friday, defeating teammates Stephen Patton and Josh Littell 6-2, 6-1 for the doubles title.
“We were happy to play our own team,” O’Brien said. “It made it easier pressure-wise knowing that both of us were going to make it to the region tournament.”
The other three championships were more hotly contested.
Boyd-Buchanan earned two titles, with Taylor Eades and Emily Brown winning in girls’ doubles by defeating Collegedale’s Jennison Nafie and Leeanne Pennington 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that lasted two and a half hours.
Eades and Brown held a 5-0 lead in the second set before Nafie and Pennington stormed back to win the next seven games. The Boyd-Buchanan duo took a 2-0 edge in the deciding set before the Collegedale team won three straight games, but Eades and Brown won four of the next five games for the title.
“It was all mental,” Eades said. “We kept on making our own mistakes.”
Said Brown: “It was pretty frustrating, but we talked between ourselves and it helped out a lot.”
Boyd-Buchanan’s Jacob LeQuire won the boys’ singles final by outlasting Grace Academy’s Blake Savard 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. It was the second three-set victory of the day for LeQuire, who defeated Collegedale’s Evan Chung 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals.
“My legs are dead,” LeQuire said. “I’m just happy to win; I had worked since eighth grade to get to this point.
“I knew (Savard) was conservative and got to the ball, so I decided to be aggressive and get to the net, but I wasn’t hitting my overheads, so I became conservative and pounced on any chance he gave me.”
The girls’ singles title went to Silverdale Baptist’s Lauren Milligan, who defeated Alicia Salazar of Collegedale 6-4, 6-2. Milligan was a finalist last year.
“I was trying to keep the ball away from the corners,” Milligan said. “She’s a good line hitter, so I tried to keep the ball in the middle of the court.
“Going into this tournament, I thought it was anybody’s game. I’m excited to win. I didn’t expect it, so it worked out great.”