BAYLOR’S BEST YET

Lady Raiders earn dominant victory against rival Bruisers

The Baylor girls’ tennis game Wednesday looked no less than twice as good as that of GPS’s Bruisers in a high school match at Baylor.

Each of the Lady Red Raiders in singles and doubles scored at least twice as much as their opponents in every set, and the result was a 7-0 victory.

“I think across the board we played up to our potential,” Baylor coach Dustin Kane said. “We’ve been working toward this all year. We’ve had an up-and-down season so far. Everybody, as a whole, played solid tennis all day.”

The match began with Baylor (5-2) winning the doubles point. The Bruisers’ No. 2 team of Ellie Edwards and Maggie Eslinger played the closest set, losing 8-4 to Lauren Carelli and Lilly Mooney. Drew Hawkins and Ashton Jenne won at No. 1 and Presley Thomas and Landie McBrayer prevailed at No. 3.

Corrine Spann won the most games in singles for GPS (2-4), losing 6-3, 6-3 to Jenne at No. 3.

“She made Ashton hit a lot of balls,” GPS coach Sue Bartlett said. “She made her run down a lot of balls. That makes it much tougher on your opponent.”

Thomas, who played No. 2 singles, did not lose a game in singles or doubles. Carelli, McBrayer and Mooney won singles at Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

“They played very well,” Bartlett said of the Lady Raiders. “I felt like they didn’t give us much today. They stayed focused and executed well. That’s what it’s all about.”

Baylor got to face some players from Hutchison, a fellow Division II-AA program from the west side of the state, in the Rotary tournament in Chattanooga last

“I think across the board we played up to our potential. We’ve been working toward this all year. We’ve had an up-and-down season so far. Everybody, as a whole, played solid tennis all day.”

— BAYLOR COACH DUSTIN KANE

weekend. Kane said that team and GPS could be opponents to contend with as the season progresses and the Lady Raiders go for their seventh consecutive state championship and the program’s 11th overall.

Baylor plays the Bruisers again May 10 at GPS in the match that counts in the East/Middle Region standings.

“We learned a lot,” Bartlett said of Wednesday’s match. “Now we’ll go back to the drawing board and practice some of the things we learned.”

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @ KelleySmiddie.

STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND Baylor’s Ashton Jenne returns the ball during her doubles match with teammate Drew Hawkins against GPS’s Maddox Bandy and Corrinne Spann on Wednesday at Baylor School. Hawkins and Jenne won 8-3, and Baylor won 7-0.

STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND Baylor’s Drew Hawkins returns the ball during her doubles match with teammate Ashton Jenne against GPS’s Maddox Bandy and Corrinne Spann on Wednesday at Baylor School.