CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Last season, Boyd-Buchanan tennis players Katie Delay and Makenna Thomas looked miserable as they faced off in both the District 5-A/AA and Region 3 individual singles finals. Points really couldn’t be celebrated. Post-match, smiles were forced in pictures as, while teammates, the desire to win remained inside both players.
Thomas won the district title and Delay was victorious in the region, earning a spot in the state tournament.
Immediately after the season, they decided they would play doubles in the 2015 postseason.
That idea has paid off, and this time the smiles and cheers were for real.
The Lady Bucs duo won the district doubles title Friday, defeating Collegedale Academy’s Matti Sue Nafie and Emily Wilt — state semifinalists last season — 6-3, 7-5 in the final at Lee University.
“We decided that with it being our senior year, we weren’t going to put ourselves through that again,” Thomas said. “We wanted to prove we were more than just good singles players.”
Teammate Christina Amos won the singles title, 6-0, 6-1 over Silverdale Baptist Academy’s McKaylah Hicks.
Grace Academy’s Josh Fisher beat Arts & Sciences’ Visaal Ambalam 6-4, 3-6 (10-3) to win boys’ singles. It is the fifth consecutive season that a Golden Eagle has won the district singles title.
Silverdale’s Jameson Mench and Hunter Hoskins defeated teammates Drake Christensen and Austin Harkleroad for the doubles title.
All finalists qualify for the Region 3-A/AA individual tournament May 11 at the Champions Club.
Amos plays No. 3 singles for the Lady Bucs, who are the No. 2 seed going into the team district tournament Monday. She was solid and consistent in her straight-set victory over Hicks.
“That was the goal — when I was ready, to take my shots,” she said. “It’s a pretty awesome feeling to win. I came into the tournament with an open mind. I’m glad I won.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.