by B. B. Branton
posted May 11, 2008
Sunday's region tennis singles finals for boys and girls were described by many in attendance as the TSSAA state finals preview 12 days hence. One could also call the matches, NCAA Division I futures.
In the D-II Middle/East girls finals, college signees Claire Bartlett (GPS headed to Virginia) defeated Gabriela Rangel (Pope John Paul II headed to Ole Miss), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Rangel fought off five match points in the final two games, before Bartlett closed out the match.
The boys finals showed McCallie’s David Henry (signed with Memphis) rallying to edge Webb’s Brandon Fickey, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Fickey is the only one of the four who will not be playing at an NCAA Division I school in the fall, mainly due to the fact that he is a high school freshman.
Both finals were the third meeting of the season. Bartlett, the two-time D-II defending singles champ with a No. 6 national 18s ranking earlier this year, edged Rangel in a USTA match earlier this spring and Rangel returned the favor in a team match.
“Gabriela played well in the second set so I had to re-focus on making a variety of shots in the third set to change things up,’’ said Bartlett. ‘‘The wind was difficult to play in and I had to pick and choose my shots.’’
Fickey topped Henry in the Chattanooga Rotary finals (April 5), while Henry won in the team match (May 6).
Henry was down a set and serving down 0-3 in the second before winning 12 of the final 13 games for his first region singles gold medal. In a match highlighted by college-level rallies, Henry broke Fickey five times in the final 13 games.
“I was lazy at the start of the second set which put me in some trouble,’’ said Henry. “I had to come in to the net more after being down 0-3 to put pressure on him. Playing well at the net then helped my baseline game.’’
In doubles, it was an all McCallie final as top-seeded Wes Nelson-Chris Schlabach defeated No. 4 Thomas Fanjoy-Roger Briggs, 6-4, 7-6 (4). On the girls side, Webb sisters Guinn and Vicki Garcia showed why they were the top seed, rallying to edge No. 2 Currant Scruggs-Katie Thornton (Baylor), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Seventh Game is Key: In the semis, Fanjoy-Briggs rallied from down a set to defeat No. 2 Alex-Rudd-Forrest Edwards (Ensworth), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 … Swing game … many tennis followers say that the key game in a set is the seventh … The third set was 3-3 with Fanjoy serving down 15-40 … The Blue duo won the final three points (no ad scoring) to hold at 4-3 … Ensworth’s Rudd double faulted on match point in the 12th game.
Consolation Finals: Girls Singles – No. 4 Sarah Evans (GPS) def. No. 3 Anne Marie Herbold (BGA), 6-2, 6-2; Girls Doubles – Erika Marschall-Kelly Scruggs (Baylor) def . No. 4 Cady Jones-Ann Elizabeth Holley (GPS), 6-4, 6-2.
Boys Singles – No. 3 J.P. McLemore (McCallie) def. No. 4 Naveen Chadalavada (MBA), 6-3, 6-0); Boys Doubles – No. 2 Alex Rudd-Forrest Edwards (Ensworth) def. No. 3 Orlando Lourenco-McGregor Wallis (Baylor), 6-4, 6-4.
Mother’s Day Present: GPS head coach and region tournament director was rewarded for a weekend of hard work as her daughter, Claire, won her third region singles gold medal.
Garcia Family: The Garcia sisters, Guinn and Vicki, are the eighth and ninth in the family line to play tennis at Webb … Their father, Joe, and six of his siblings played for the Spartans in the 1960s and 1970s … In order: Dena, Pat, Joe (also played for Baylor), Mary Jane, Rebecca, Marco and Carlos … Joe and Rebecca played at North Carolina, Carlos at Tennessee and Dena, Pat and Mary Jane at Mary Baldwin … State champs (7) … Guinn won the state doubles title in 2006 with Berkeley Brock … Dena won state singles crowns in 1965 and 1967, while Mary Jane claimed a doubles crown (with Ruth Willingham) in 1967 … Mary Jane topped them all with three doubles gold medals, 1970-72-73 …
Five Region Titles: Webb’s Berkeley Brock won five straight region doubles titles, 2002-03-04-05-06 … the first four with Elizabeth Googe and the last one with Guinn Garcia … Googe also won five straight gold medals … a singles in 2001, followed by four straight doubles titles with Brock …
McCallie Near Sweep … This year, McCallie had the two doubles finalists, while Henry won singles and McLemore was third … McCallie captured the singles and doubles crowns for the first time in the same year since 2000 when Andrew Rogers (singles) and Rob Campbell-Reaves Robinette (doubles) brought home the gold medals …
The Last Time … The last time McCallie claimed the region singles was 2004 with Charlie Ramsey (now playing for Univ. of Memphis) … last doubles crown was won by Wes Nelson-William Kent in 2005 … “It was a very good day for McCallie tennis,’’ stated coach Eric Voges.
Next Matches:
Region Championship: Tuesday May 13 … 4 p.m. - Baylor at McCallie … 5 p.m. - Ensworth at GPS … Baylor at St. Mary’s (Memphis) … the winner’s advance to the state tournament, May 20-21 in Murfreesboro …
Finals: Boys Singles: No. 1 David Henry (McCallie) def. No. 2 Brandon Fickey (Webb), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 … Girls Singles: No. 2 Claire Bartlett (GPS) def. No. 1 Gabriela Rangel (Pope John Paul II), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Boys Doubles: No. 1 Wes Nelson-Chris Schlabach (McCallie) def. No. 4 Thomas Fanjoy-Roger Briggs (McCallie), 6-4, 7-6 (4); Girls Doubles: No. 1 Guinn Garcia-Vicki Garcia (Webb). def. No. 2 Currrant Scruggs-Katie Thornton (Baylor), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net
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