GPS Wins 10th State Crown

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The old adage of third time is the charm rang true for GPS tennis team this afternoon as the Bruisers defeated cross-town rival Baylor, 4-2, for the TSSAA D-II AA state championship.

 

Thanks to a state championship-clinching win by junior Bronte Goodhue at No. 2 singles, the Black and Blue gained that precious fourth team point for the school’s 10th tennis title since girls across the state first played for a championship in 1964.

 

GPS’ state-clinching win is the third part of the 2010 trilogy of Baylor matches to go with 4-2 and 4-3 victories in April.

 

In other championship matches, In the DII-AA boys team final, MBA defeated Baylor, 4-2.

 

In Class AAA, Brentwood's boys beat McMinn County, 4-0, and Ravenwood girls edged White Station, 4-2.

 

In Class A/AA, Christian Academy of Knoxville defeated Notre Dame, 4-0, and Christ Presbyterian defeated Christian Academy of Knoxville.

 

In D-II A, Knox. Webb topped St. Andrews-Sewanee girls', 4-0, Knox. Webb boys topped University School Nashville, 4-0,

 

“After losing the first set (to Baylor’s Erika Marschall), I had to be more aggressive, move her around the court and not have her set the pace of the match,’’ said Goodhue who rallied to win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 as Marschall double faulted to end the match.

 

The victorious Bruisers gained the important doubles point, but then trailed 2-1 as Baylor’s Maggie Crumbliss (No. 6) and Sarah Berchuck (No. 4) posted wins.

 

Goodhue and teammate Sarah Evans (No. 1 singles) both dropped first sets to Maschall and Samantha Caswell, respectively, as Baylor had the upper hand

 

Eighth grader Aliza Williams stemmed the tide with a straight sets win, 7-5, 6-1, against Harper Caswell at No. 4 and it was 2-2.

 

While Emma McCallie (GPS) and Katie Thornton (Baylor) were on the way to splitting sets at No. 5, Evans and Goodhue re-grouped to force third sets.

 

Evans picked up her game to post a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win and then watched Goodhue clinch the title.

 

“This means everything to me to win the team title,’’said Evans who will play tennis at Wofford College next year.

 

“To her credit, Samantha came out hot and played real well in the first set,’ said Evans “I knew I had to work hard the next two sets and the finish was great.’’

 

Evans holds the school record for career singles wins (96-12) and is the first to play on four state championship tennis teams as the Bruisers also won in 2006-07-08.

 

Evans is a five-year starter and finished her career 18-0 in singles and doubles matches in state playoff team matches. The only set she dropped in five years was the first set of today’s match with Caswell.

 

To win the doubles point, GPS posted wins at Nos. 1 (Evans-Williams) and 2 (Goodhue-McCallie) for the 1-0 advantage.

 

“Baylor really gave us a battle, but our girls’ played well today,’’ said GPS coach Sue Bartlett.

 

“That was some exciting, high-level high school tennis and both teams had opportunities to win,’’ said Baylor coach Ned Caswell. “I told the players from both the girls and boys (MBA beat Baylor 4-2) that it is easy to learn from winning, but you also have to learn from adversity and losing.’’

 

6-3 Format: This is the first year that D-II AA teams have been allowed by TSSAA to play three doubles (best 2 of 3 for one team point), followed by six singles …

In past years, TSSAA had made the rule for teams to play 6-3 during the season, but a 5-2 format in the state tournament.

 

GPS coach Sue Bartlett petitioned the TSSAA board of control for a one year trial basis.

 

What’s Next: The singles and doubles quartefinals for all divisions are scheduled for Thursday morning followed by the afternoon semifinals. Championship matches in both will be played Friday morning.

WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS

 

D-II AA Girls'

Girls Preparatory School 4, Baylor 2

 

Singles: Sarah Evans (GPS) def. Samantha Caswell (Bay) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0; Brooke Goodhue (GPS) def. Erika Marschall (Bay)4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Sarah Berchuck (Bay) def. Meredith Morrow (GPS) 6-3, 6-1; Aliza Williams (GPS) def. Harper Caswell (Bay) 7-5, 6-1; Maggie Crumbliss (Bay) def. Lauren Schlabach (GPS) 6-4, 6-2; Emma McCallie (GPS) and Katie Thornton (Baylor) were 4-4, 30-all in the third set when match was determined.

 

Doubles: Sarah Evans / Aliza Williams (GPS) def. Sarah Berchuck / Erika Marschall (Bay) 8-2; Brooke Goodhue / Emma McCallie (GPS) def. Samantha Caswell / Ms. Morgan (Bay) 8-6.

 

D-II AA Boys'

Montgomery Bell Academy 4, Baylor 2

Singles: Roger Briggs (MBA) def. Anderson Scarpa (Bay) 6-0, 6-1; Carlos Cvevas (Bay) def. Naveen Chadalavada (MBA) 7-5, 6-4; Russ Anderson (MBA) def. Aditya Rali (Bay) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0; Davis Thrailkill (MBA) def. Alex Cooper (Bay) 6-1, 7-5; Andrew Karpos (MBA) def. Eric Roddy (Bay) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

 

Doubles: Carlos Cvevas / Alex Cooper (Bay) def. Roger Briggs / Naveen Chadalavada (MBA) 9-8 (3); Palmer Campbell / Russ Anderson (MBA) def. Michael Goldstein / Anderson Scarpa (Bay) 8-3; Aditya Rali / Zach Moore (Bay) def. Andrew Karpos / Davis Trailkill (MBA) 9-7.

 

D-I AAA Boys'

Brentwood 4, McMinn Co. 0

Singles: Alex Howard (Bw) def. Trey Royal (MC) 6-3, 6-0; Drake Hernandez (Bw) def. Josh Young (MC) 6-0, 6-0; Loukas Peterson (Bw) def. Michael Barlock (MC) 6-2, 6-3; Ryan Satterfield (Bw) def. Fenil Patel (MC) 7-5, 6-4.

 

Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net