MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The challenges of building and maintaining a tennis program at a public school in Chattanooga aren't unfamiliar to the coaches and players at Arts & Sciences.
Over the years, the Patriots have had their share of ups and downs on the court.
Led by Ethan Porterfield, though, they could be on the way back up.
The sophomore standout capped a solid week at the TSSAA Spring Fling by finishing as the state runner-up in Class A singles after falling 6-2, 6-3 to Merrol Hyde's Tobias Mandeville in Friday's final at the Adams Tennis Complex. The Patriots had also advanced to the team state tournament for the first time since 2011 - that was also the second consecutive year that Patriots standout Jackson Lenoir made the state finals in singles, finishing as runner-up both times - but they lost their semifinal Tuesday to eventual champion Merrol Hyde.
"It's my first time being here, so it's a special feeling," Porterfield said. "It's taken a lot of practice, and just being around great people who love the sport as much as you do puts you in a good environment and makes you feel good and it pushes you more.
"The past few years we've been really good. It was really cool to get to state for the boys; it's been a while, so it's just a great feeling."
The lone TSSAA state title for CSAS boys' tennis remains the Class A/AA singles championship won by Stan Goss in 2003, but last year the Lady Patriots were team champions for the first time, a little more than decade after back-to-back doubles crowns for CSAS stars Ahmee and Kayla Kelly.
As for other teams from the Chattanooga area, Division II-AA's McCallie capped a great week with a doubles championship by seniors Will Leathers and Colin Tuttle, who defeated teammates Charlie Griffin and Henry Imorde in the final, 6-3, 6-4. Another McCallie player, Andreas Sillaste, fell 6-4, 6-4 to Ensworth's Hank Trondsen in the singles final.
The Blue Tornado did not lose a match on their way to their third consecutive DII-AA team championship earlier in the week, defeating opponents 84-1 and completing an unblemished 15-0 record this season. The titles extended a run of success for not only McCallie but the Chattanooga area boys' tennis scene, which has had at least one state champion (individual or team) at each Spring Fling held since 2016.
In the DII-AA boys' doubles final, Collegedale Academy's Ryan Lopez and Adam Svendsen lost 7-5, 6-2 to Lee Harris and Michael Vargas. In Class A, Signal Mountain's Drew and Nathan Morris lost 6-4, 7-5 to Grant Koch and Eric Popa as Merrol Hyde swept the boys' titles in that classification.
On the girls' side, DII-AA team runner-up Baylor was the area's lone school represented in Friday's finals, but Helen Guerry and Agda Laakso lost 7-5 (8), 6-3 in the doubles final to Eleni Liakonis and Lillie Murphy of Knoxville Catholic, which swept the girls' titles.
This is the first time since being shut out in 2003 that the Chattanooga area failed to any state titles in girls' tennis when the Spring Fling was held. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.