The Baylor girls tennis team.
Univ School Jackson Boys Tennis Team with B Division first place plaque
Baylor Girls Win A Division Rotary Title
photo by Brian Thomas
Baylor's Brandon Kali hits a return shot Saturday in the No.4 singles finals on the way to defeating Spencer Blandfor (St. Xavier), 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
photo by M.A. Locke
Two veteran champs and a pair of new comers now newly crowned winners used solid performances in Saturday’s singles finals to close the door on the competition.
In this, the 60th annual Chattanooga Rotary Tennis Championship, Baylor Girls (11-time winner) and St. Xavier (Ky.) (5-time champ) won the A Division convincingly, while Knox Catholic Girls and Univ. School Jackson (Tenn.) took home the first place hardware in the B Division.
The tournament was held at Baylor, GPS and McCallie.
Girls A: Baylor won four singles and two doubles titles for 21 points while runner-up Knox Webb finished with 12.5 in the eight-team field.
Defending champ McCracken (Ky.) took third (11 pts.) as No.1 Michelle McKamey won a Rotary girls record third straight singles crown.
Baylor singles champions were No.2 Karolina Hakala, No.4 Lauren Carelli, No.5 Ashton Jenne and Lilly Mooney.
Team Standings:
1.) Baylor 21 2.) Knox Webb 12.5 3.) McCracken 11 4.) Mountain Brook 9 5.) Huntsville 8.5 6.) Hutchison 6.5 7.) GPS 6 8.) Harpeth Hall 1.5
Baylor wins DeCoTurf in March Rotary in April and favored for state in May - the triple crown in about 60 days
Baylor has 12 titles GPS has 14 .... Baylor has won 5 of last 6
Boys A: St. Xavier used a balance of three singles and three doubles titles to win by 7.5 over runner-up Mountain Brook (22-14.5)
St. X. singles winners were No.2 Matt Graft, No.5 Kamron Akrami and No. 6 Patrick Kashowa.
Team Standings
1.) St. Xavier 22 2.) Mtn Brook 14.5 3.) Baylor 14 4.) MBA 11.5 5.) McCallie 7 6.) McCracken 4 7.) Knox Webb 3.5 8.) Spain Park 0
St. X has won three of last four
Girls B: Knox Catholic had singles winners in No.1 Erin Allen, No.3 Sara Allen and No.5
Keileen Cullen. Knox Catholic should be a strong contendr for the TSSAA A-AA state title in May.
Team Standings
1.) Knox Catholic 22 2.) Spain Park 15 3.) Randolph 10 4.) Notre Dame 9 5.) CAK 6.5 6.) Chattanooga Christian 6 7.) (tie) USJ, Science Hill 3.5
first Rotary title for Knox Catholic girls coach Rusty Morris said, “ it is a big deal to win this tournament and this is the best team we have had in a decade.” … ND is defending A-AA state champ
Boys B: USJ had singles winners in No.1 Cade Reasons, No.2 George Markos, No.3 Paul Markos, No.4 Mason Woods
Team Standings
1.) USJ 20 2.) Huntsville 11 3.) Science Hill 10 4.) CAK 9 5.) Notre Dame 8.5 6.) Randolph 2.5 8.) Knox Catholic 2
USJ had never won the B Division until this year, but did win C Division in 1996 and 2000 … Knox Webb beat USJ in TSSAA state A-AA finals in 2015 .. USJ is one of the favorites this year
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net