MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The emotion draining from Katie Thornton was long deserved.
With other matches winding up, the Baylor senior’s contest against Hutchison’s Amelia Sims shaped up to be the deciding match to see which team would face GPS in the Division II-AA state final.
But as Thornton — who fell behind in the deciding set before winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 — continued to battle, her cheering section started to grow.
First it was her teammates. Then it was the Baylor boys’ team, followed by a couple of Knoxville Webb girls and finally the entire Ravenwood girls’ team.
“It’s the most amazing thing to have the team cheer for me,” a tearful Thornton said. “It shows this is more than a sport.
“I don’t know if I could have done this without my coaches. They were there every step of the way. I felt pressure during the match, but to have tons of supporters and hear them cheer my name, it was unreal.”
Midway through the third set, fans starting chanting, “Give me a K! Give me an A!….” spelling out Thornton’s first name. She was unaware that it was the Ravenwood tennis team that had started the chant.
“That was so sweet of them,” Thornton said, noting that Webb’s Vicki Garcia also offered words of encouragement. “We’re all here competing for the same thing, so that was so nice.”
The encouragement was enough to push her over the hump. Serving with a 6-5, 30-15 lead in the final set, Thornton fired an ace, then followed that with a winning shot for the game and match.
“It was a huge step up,” Baylor coach Dustin Kane said. “It was a big moment for a senior, to put us in the finals. She’s been a great leader all year, and one of the hardest workers that fights for every point.”
The next hump for Thornton and the Lady Red Raiders will be to defeat rival GPS for the Division II-AA state championship today. It will be the first time since 2007 that the two have battled with a state title on the line.
“I feel like if we have the team support we had today, we can do it,” Thornton said. “We’re here for the love of each other.”