MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Even in a new classification, the Chattanooga Christian School girls' tennis team had one goal this season - to compete for a state championship.
The Lady Chargers are in position to do just that.
GPS' Maddox Bandy eyes the ball against Hutchison during her No. 1 singles in the Division II Class AA semifinals during Spring Fling XXV at the Adams Tennis Complex on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.CCS beat Christian Academy of Knoxville 4-1 in a Division II-A semifinal Tuesday at the Adams Tennis Complex as the state tournament got underway. The Lady Chargers advanced to the title match, just as they did in 2017, the final year for the Class A/AA division in TSSAA tennis.
Division I is now split into Small Class and Large Class. CCS has left that division behind altogether but still has a championship mindset.
"That was our goal," CCS coach Melanie Reynolds said of reaching the title match again after losing 4-0 to Knoxville Catholic in last year's A/AA final.
"We hoped we'd get there, but we're in a higher division from last year. We weren't sure who we'd be up against, but we were very scrappy, hung in there and didn't give up. We've been playing some really good tennis the last week or so."
Addie Henry, Ashley Rice, Jada Tun and Olivia Underwood were winners for the Lady Chargers, who now face Knoxville Webb, which defeated St. Andrew's-Sewanee 4-0 in the other semifinal and is going for its ninth straight state championship.
CCS isn't the only Chattanooga-area girls' tennis team that will play for a title today, when all championship matches will begin at 10 a.m. EDT. Signal Mountain, which advanced out of its district tournament for the first time, defeated Summertown 4-0 in the Small Class semifinal and today will face L&N Stem, a 4-0 winner against Greenfield.
Chattanooga Christian's Olivia Underwood hits a shot during her No. 3 singles match against CAK in the Division II Class A semifinals during Spring Fling XXV at the Adams Tennis Complex on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.Baylor, aiming for its eighth consecutive state championship, and rival GPS will battle for the Division II-AA crown.
Baylor's Lauren Carelli, Anna Hawkins and Carylyn Reid earned singles wins in the Lady Red Raiders' 4-0 semifinal victory against Harpeth Hall. Carelli paired with Lilly Mooney and Presley Thomas with Landie McBrayer to win in doubles and earn the team point.
GPS won 4-1 against Hutchison with singles victories by Barbie Edwards, Corinne Span and Kate Thel, as well as doubles wins from Spann and Ellie Edwards plus Thel and Maggie Eslinger.
Signal was once in the same district as the Lady Chargers and Notre Dame - teams that have state championships in the past five years - and could never get out of the district. That changed this season and they were dominant Tuesday, with Callie Mastin, Catherine Trombley, Mary Elizabeth Wakim and Grace Williams winning in straight sets.
"This is a great feeling," said Wakim, who admitted some early nervousness but explained the team had a hit-around Tuesday morning that helped.
"I'm still kind of shocked we've done so well considering we'd never been out of the district, but now we're here and it's amazing."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.