Chattanooga Times Free Press

Baylor girls close to redemption

- BY GENE HENLEY STAFF WRITER Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreep­ress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley­3.

MURFREESBO­RO, Tenn. — Having failed to win a state team championsh­ip last season for the first time in over a decade, Gabby Czarnecki and the Baylor tennis team were determined to give themselves another chance in 2022.

One step away.

The Lady Red Raiders shut out Brentwood Academy 4-0 Tuesday in the semifinals of the TSSAA State Tennis Championsh­ips at Adams Tennis Complex. Czarnecki, along with Ensley Collins and Claire McOmie, claimed singles victories, while Margarette Berry and Helen Guerry, and Collins and Sloane Proffitt picked up doubles point victories.

“(Not winning) last year definitely pushed us, because we came back with kind of a vengeance,” Czarnecki said. “We knew who we were playing; it was just a matter of just going out, playing and winning.

“Our team spirit is huge. It plays a strong part in winning and getting to the championsh­ip.”

Baylor — which won nine consecutiv­e state championsh­ips from 2011-19, the second-longest streak in state tournament history behind Knoxville Webb (201019) — is not alone in advancing to today’s Division II-AA final. The Lady Red Raiders, who will face defending state champion Knoxville Catholic, are joined in the finals by McCallie, which defeated Montgomery Bell Academy 4-0 in the Division II-AA boys’ semifinals.

The Blue Tornado picked up singles wins from Andreas Sillaste, Will Leathers and Gabe Getz, and doubles wins from Sillaste and Colin Tuttle and Henry Imorde and Charlie Griffin. McCallie will face Memphis University School in Wednesday’s final.

In the Class A boys division, Arts & Sciences fell 4-0 to Merrol Hyde, while in Class AA girls, McMinn County fell to Tennessee High.

 ?? STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN RUDD ?? Baylor’s Gabby Czarnicki reaches for a return during her doubles match with Agda Laakso against Brentwood Academy in the TSSAA Division II-AA tennis semifinals Tuesday at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesbo­ro.
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN RUDD Baylor’s Gabby Czarnicki reaches for a return during her doubles match with Agda Laakso against Brentwood Academy in the TSSAA Division II-AA tennis semifinals Tuesday at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesbo­ro.

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