Hixson coach Raul Fernandez drilled his boys’ tennis team on a lot of singles this week leading up to Thursday’s Region 3-A/AA championship match against Boyd-Buchanan. The hard work paid off.
The Wildcats claimed their first-ever region championship with a 5-0 win over the Buccaneers at the Brainerd city courts, while the Boyd-Buchanan girls earned their fourth consecutive region title with a 4-0 defeat of the Lady Wildcats.
The Lady Bucs (17-0) will face Notre Dame, who defeated Merrol Hyde of Hendersonville 4-0 in the Region 4 final, in a Class A/AA sectional match next week. Hixson’s boys don’t know their opponent yet, as Signal Mountain and Central Magnet don’t play their match until this afternoon in Murfreesboro.
The Wildcats (10-3), who defeated the Bucs 8-1 in the regular season, swept singles Thursday with wins from Alex Condra, Richard Vuong, Carl Phillips, Kevin Nguyen and Rivers De’Friese, with Vuong’s win at No. 2 singles clinching the championship.
“I was nervous coming into this match. I literally had butterflies — probably because I felt like we were supposed to win today,” Fernandez said. “Take nothing away from Boyd-Buchanan — I think they fought hard and they have a good bunch of kids — but I’m happy for my bunch now. We have to get ready for the next step.”