Bartlett’s two-time defending state champion GPS tennis team won the Division II Class AA Middle/East Region crown Wednesday, finishing the regular season undefeated at 11-0. Her Bruisers begin the postseason in the Middle/East Region individual tournament Saturday and Sunday at Baylor School, then will play a state sectional match next week for a berth to the state team tournament.

1. What has the road to the postseason been like for this year’s Bruisers?

“We ended up having our same competition we would’ve had in the East Region. We didn’t know that in the beginning, because of this new East/Middle Region. So we have a couple of the Nashville teams and it turned out that Baylor and (Knoxville) Webb was going to be our strongest competition in the region again. It was back to the same matches, but obviously different faces. We had good matches with both of them.”

2. Due to the split of Division II into Class A and Class AA, GPS competes in Class AA’s combination of the Middle and East regions — the Middle/East Region. What do you think of this year’s format change?

“It’s been good from the East point of view that, now, because we’re in the Mid/East, we get five teams that go to the state. That really helps the East, because historically, we’ve been some of the stronger teams. In the past, it’s been Webb, Baylor or us that would go to state, and this year, all three go. I think it’s great that all three teams can move on in the postseason.”

3. What can we expect in this year’s expanded field for the region individual girls’ tournament?

“In singles for the girls, it looks like the two strongest players are going to be Claire (Bartlett of GPS) and Gabriela Rangel (of Pope John Paul II). Claire actually lost to her in the regular-season match in the third-set tiebreaker, but she had beat her in a tournament a couple of weeks before and last year in the semifinals of the state (individual tournament), that four-hour marathon. So that’s going to be an exciting match, if they both reach the finals. A lot of the No. 1 players are actually playing in the doubles this year, so I think the doubles is going to be really strong: the Garcias (Vicki and Guinn) from Webb, Currant Scruggs and Katie Thornton from Baylor. There are going to be a lot of good doubles teams.”

4. Your daughter, Claire, is headed to play for the University of Virginia. How has it been preparing your only child for college?

“She’s just so excited about going up there and continuing tennis. I’m just really happy. Yesterday, we were hitting a little bit and she said she always wanted to play tennis and hopes she’ll always be able to play, even after college. Hopefully she’ll play some professional tennis, but obviously we’ll see how the college situation goes. She’s got a lot of other interests also. I’m just glad, after all this, she still loves to play. It’s been a great sport for my family, and I’m glad we’ve been able to share it with other people.”

5. What are your tennis plans for the summer?

“(Chattanooga Christian coach) Sue Webb and I are playing for Tennessee in the Senior Cup, which is the first weekend in June, then the (Tennessee Valley Open Championships), and then we’re playing on this team with some coaches from the Memphis teams. It’s a 50 USTA team and it’s kind of neat that we’re all playing on this team. It’s one of those things if you advance we go to the state, then Mobile, and if you win you go to Los Angeles. The funnest thing, and I told Claire, if we have to go to the nationals in Los Angeles, the University of Virginia will be in Los Angeles at the same time.

I’m also going to coach the USTA Southern team out in Southern California in August in the National Team Championships. I’m always excited about that; I’ll get to work with some of the top players in the South. It’s a great opportunity to work with college players or who are going to college. I’m going to do that and teach some camps and lessons. It’ll be a busy summer, but it’ll be fun.”

— Mallory Carra