By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
MURFREESBORO – Sadly for Union City, the third time was not the charm.
Hoping to win their first-ever state team tennis championship in the program’s third trip to the finals, the Lady Tornadoes, unfortunately, had to settle for runner-up honors again after falling to Summertown 4-0 in the Class A Championship Wednesday.
UC – which also finished second in 1999 and 2000 — ends an otherwise stellar season with a 12-11 record, claiming the district, regional and sectional titles in addition to a state semifinal victory in a memorable campaign.
The Purple and Gold simply ran into a better squad in Summertown, though, which was state runners-up last season and was making its fourth consecutive appearance at the state tournament while boasting three players who’ll compete in the individual state tourney this week.
The contest was played in winds that regularly gusted more than 20 miles-per-hour and after a rain delay of more than an hour.
“Sometimes you run into a very good team that is able to adjust to the elements and environment better than you are. That’s what happened today,” Union City head coach Tom Sisco said afterward. “We were thinking we were going to play inside, then they got the courts dry for us to play outside, and the wind was blowing 30 miles-per-hour.
“Summertown had to play in the same conditions, though, but that (windy conditions) got into our heads a little bit in all our matches.”
The Lady Eagles countered UC’s much-publicized quality roster depth by jumping on top early in all five matches, winning the first set in each before closing out straight-set victories in four of those matches.
Gracie Kelly beat the Tornadoes’ Annie Wade 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 1 seed, while Ella Konig notched a 6-4, 6-1 win over Union City’s Gracyn Callicott at the second seed. Shelby Bondurant battled back from a 5-0 deficit in the second set against Libby Konig before falling 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3.
Summertown clinched the match when Hope Jones put away Davey Frankum 7-5, 6-2 at the fifth seed.
UC’s Molly Kizer was on the verge of squaring her match against Emma Perry at No. 4, up 5-1 in the second set after falling 6-4 in the first when the match was called.
“The importance of the first set came into play in this match when we went down in the first set in all five of our matches,” Sisco added. “It’s just so hard to get back in it after that happens.
“We never could recover.”
The match was the last in the outstanding Lady Tornado playing careers of Callicott and Wade, the team’s top two singles seeds this season.
Callicott went 15-8 and had a 12-match winning streak at one point this year in singles play. She also posted a 12-3 mark when teaming with Kizer on the doubles court.
Callicott was a three-time district individual tournament champion and chalked up more than 70 wins for her career.
Wade won nine times against top-tier competition this season in singles and paired with Bondurant to go 13-6 in doubles. During one stretch, the duo won 10 straight matches.
“Gracyn has won some huge matches for us since she was a freshman and was a rock-solid force for four years,” her coach said. “She’s been so pleasant to work with and an excellent young lady. We hate to see her go.
“Annie improved her game tremendously over the course of her career. To watch that has been very impressive. She’s faced top-flight competition at the one-seed in every one of our matches, and she’s battled and held her own. She gave us everything she had and worked hard to improve in every aspect.”