In a meeting of defending state and Rotary prep tennis champions, host McCallie defeated Science Hill, 7-2, at the John Strang Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
McCallie (3-0) has now won 31 straight home matches, since a 5-4 loss to MBA in April 2005. Science Hill is 3-1 on the young season.
The Blue Tornado won the Division A Rotary crown on Saturday and is the three-time defending TSSAA D-II AA state champs. The Hilltoppers claimed the Division B Rotary title and have won the past two TSSAA Division I AAA state crowns.
After the pre-match national anthem and prayer, William Disterdick was off the court first for McCallie at No.4 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Drew Kerr.
Taylor Rogers (No.6) and Chris Schlabach (No.1) quickly followed with straight set wins for a 3-0 Blue Tornado lead.
Nathan Winters (No.5) was next with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph and McCallie clinched the match at 5-0 as Thomas Fanjoy defeated John Storie, 7-6 (3), 7-5 at No.2 singles.
The Hilltoppers lone singles win came at No.3 as Michael Chen rallied to edge Sawyer Voges, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
McCallie posted doubles wins with Schlabach-Disterdick (No.1) and Fanjoy-Voges (No.2), while Jordan Eddy-Hayden Holbrook claimed No.3 doubles for the visitors.
"McCallie is a strong team and we need to play this kind of competition," said Science Hill coach Pete Zannis.
In the marquee match, McCallie's Schlabach defeated 2008 state singles runner-up Chris Smith, 6-1, 7-5, at No.1 singles.
In the battle of seniors, Schlabach won the first seven points of the match and the final eight, but in between these baseliners had several long, well-played rallies.
Schlabach held serve to open the match and then broke Smith's serve for a 2-0 lead.
Schlabach broke again at 4-1 and closed out the set with four straight points on his serve.
Smith held to open the second set and broke Schlabach to lead 3-1, but the Blue Tornado broke right back and then held to make it 3-3.
Each player then held for 4-4 before three straight breaks of serve and Schlabch served out the match at 6-5 with four straight points.
"This is my first win against Chris, so this has been a good weekend of tennis," stated Schlabach, who is 1-3 vs. Smith since they first met in the 14s.
No.1 Stats:
Points Won: Schlabach, 55-41
Service Breaks Won: Schlabach, 5-2
4-0 Games: Schlabach, 7-2
3-all Points Won (no add scoring): Schlabach, 5-1
Still Early Yet: Chris Smith (3-2 in singles) has only been on the court for a week after leading the Hilltoppers to the state tournament in basketball. The hard-hitting senior was the state runner-up in AAA last year to three-time state champ Ian Chadwell of Centennial.
Battle of Doubles Champs: Both No.2 doubles teams were coming off Rotary wins just 24 hours earlier. The McCallie tandem of Voges-Fanjoy stayed unbeaten (5-0) with an 8-6 triumph against Chen-Kerr.
Defending State Champs: Hilltoppers John Storie and Drew Kerr were AAA state doubles champs in 2008 and most likely will pair up in post-season play, while Chris Smith will compete in singles.
Best Hilltoppers: When asked if this is his best team, coach Zannis said with three seniors and the defending state doubles team among his six returning starters, that the 2009 squad is most likely his best. A close second is the 2002 state champs.
Name That Tune: Coach Voges does his best to add some culture to the program with post-match music from "Piano Classics." Modern rock music is played in pre-match warm-ups, but "Piano Classics" or Frank Sinatra hits are the coaches choice after the match.
"To say that the players do not look forward to the Sinatra selections is an understatement," Voges stated with a smile.
"We want our home matches to be a team atmosphere," said Voges who has an opening prayer, national anthem and introduction of players in pre-match ceremonies.
Voges pointed out that in recent years team parents have purchased permanent outdoor speakers, a sound system (especially for the Sinatra fans) and a flag and flag poll.
"We even offer snow cones for players and fans," he said.
This Week:
Wednesday: McCallie travels to crosstown rival Baylor (2-1) at 4 p.m. as part of McCallie-Baylor week. The baseball teams meet for 7 p.m. single games on Tuesday (at McCallie) and Wednesday (at Baylor), while the crew squads row for the Raoul Cup and the Carney Cup on Friday.
McCallie 7, Science Hill 2
Singles:
#1 Chris Schlabach (McC) d. Chris Smith, 6-1, 7-5
#2 Thomas Fanjoy (McC) d. John Storie, 7-6 (3), 7-5
#3 Michael Chen (SH) d. Sawyer Voges, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
#4 William Disterdick (McC) d. Drew Kerr 6-1, 6-1
#5 Nathan Winters (McC) d. Jordan Eddy, 6-4, 6-3
#6 Taylor Rogers (McC) d. Hayden Holbrook, 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
#1 Chris Schlabach-William Disterdick (McC) d. Chris Smith-John Storie, 8-5
#2 Thomas Fanjoy-Sawyer Voges (McC) d. Michael Chen-Drew Kerr, 8-6
#3 Jordan Eddy-Hayden Holbrook (SH) d. Nathan Winters-Taylor Rogers, 2-0 retired
Records: McCallie (3-0), Science Hill (3-1)
McCallie Home Win Streak: 31
Next Match: Tuesday April 7: Science Hill hosts Sullivan Central
Wednesday April 8: McCallie at Baylor (4 p.m.)
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net