Chattanooga Christian girls, Signal boys roll into title matches for A/AA state tennis

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Chattanooga Christian School coach Melanie Reynolds gave her girls' tennis team a simple message prior to their Class A/AA state semifinal against Union City.

"I told them needed to stay focused, play their game, be confident and get off to a good start," Reynolds said.

It appears her team listened.

The Lady Chargers wasted little time dispatching of the Golden Tornadoes on Tuesday, earning four singles wins to sweep their way into today's state championship match against Knoxville Catholic.

CCS was joined in advancing by Signal Mountain's boys, who defeated Christ Presbyterian Academy 4-0 in an A/AA semifinal. They will face Christian Academy of Knoxville in today's final at 10 a.m. EDT.

The Soddy-Daisy girls lost 4-0 to Bearden in the AAA semifinals.

Addie Henry, Olivia Torbett, Olivia Underwood and Ashley Rice had wins for CCS, in search of their first state title since 2013. Bailey Dishmon fell behind early in her No. 1 singles match, but she rallied to win the first set 7-5 and was ahead 3-2 in the second when the match was stopped.

"We were a little shaky early on, but that's normal," Reynolds said.

Signal Mountain showed little to no nerves in its first-ever trip to the state tournament. Roger Trombley, Thomas Thelen, Gabe Williams and Carson Williams had singles wins, with Thelen's 7-4 second-set tiebreaker victory over Brit Campbell sealing the team victory.

"The guys had a quiet focus among them," Eagles coach Jordan Willcutt said. "They weren't really pushing themselves hard in practice, but I think they came ready to play.

"Coming here for the first time, for them to do as well as they did, it speaks volumes about their character."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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