By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City was already assured of at least two championships in the District 14 Small Division individual tennis tournament.
A third title was simply icing on the cake.
Freshman Gracyn Callicott beat Greenfield senior Sam Stone 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in a match that lasted more than two hours Monday to cap a championship round that was dominated by the Purple and Gold.
The girls’ doubles team of Meg Kizer and Gussie Parks beat Lady Tornado teammates Zoe Cagle and Sailor Bearden 6-1, 6-1 to repeat their district title run of a year ago, while the UC duo of Wilson Harris and Walker Ross defeated their fellow Twister competitors Hayden Wilson and Justin Rice 6-4 and 7-5 to take the boys’ crown.
Union City was denied a tournament sweep when Eli Ervin was blanked in straight sets of the boys’ singles final by Westview’s Judah Brown.
All the Tornado participants in Monday’s district title round will advance to regional individual play next Monday and Tuesday at Bethel University.
UC will play in region team competition this week – the boys facing Huntingdon at Bethel today, and the girls playing at Halls on Thursday.
Monday’s Union City-dominated district finals thrilled Tornado head coach Tom Sisco, who raved about both the depth and quality of his troops.
“No doubt, that we had 10 kids playing for district championships today speaks to the talent and quality of players in our program,” Sisco said. “They all competed well, they competed hard and they are great ambassadors for our program and our school.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of them.”
While the senior duo of Kizer and Parks took the first step to what they hope is a return to the state tournament, where they made last year’s doubles semifinals, the play of Calllicott was especially noteworthy.
After splitting the first two sets of her match against the veteran Greenfield player, she won the final four games of the match after the deciding set was tied at 2.
Callicott broke Stone for the fourth time in the third set at love to go up 5-2, then rallied back to win the match after trailing 40-love.
“Her training and mental toughness were evident to me from the first day I saw her play,” Sisco said of Callicott. “Those are the qualities of very good players and I thought today she showed those.
“To beat a veteran player like Stone in two-out-of-three sets and to not let things that happened in the match get under her skin was so impressive.”
Sisco also had words of praise for all of his doubles teams, noting the play of Kizer and Parks, especially.
“Meg and Gussie have been on this stage before and I think it showed,” he said. “This is sort of old hat to them now. They very much want to get back to Murfreesboro, and I believe the experience they gained last year helped them understand that it’s time to turn it on.
“I’m really proud of Sailor and Zoe, too. They’ve really come on as the season has progressed and they were very worthy of the opportunity to play for a district championship.”
The boys’ doubles final was competitive from start to finish, with the two UC teams trading great shots and timely serves before the team of Harris and Ross prevailed over their teammates.
“They really went back and forth and it was a good match worthy of a district championship,” Sisco said.
“I’m happy for all of our guys. They’ve continued to work hard all year and they’ve gotten better … both as individuals and doubles teams.”
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