Lady Trojans win Power title

Friday, January 1, 1904

The trophy and plaque case at Soddy-Daisy just received a new addition.

The Lady Trojans tennis team claimed the Power Division championship of the Big Bang tournament Saturday by defeating East Hamilton 6-0 in the day's final match. Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson wasn't sure, but it could be the first non-postseason tournament the girls' program has won.

"It's kind of neat to win," she said. "I hate that we lost to Walker Valley along the way, but hopefully the girls learned what they needed to learn to advance in the postseason."

The boys' Power Division championship went to Arts & Sciences (12-0), which earned that title with wins over Grace Academy and East Hamilton on Saturday.

"This weekend has been a test of endurance," CSAS coach Jerry Pate said. "We expected to do OK. You never know what could happen, but we were up to the task.

"I thought the guys performed well."

Soddy-Daisy (12-2) was one of two girls' teams to lose one match in the Power Division, but Signal Mountain finished 2-1, losing to the Lady Trojans. The champions finished 3-1, with their defeat at the hands of Walker Valley, who finished 2-2 with losses to East Hamilton and Signal Mountain.

Saturday's last match between East Hamilton and Soddy-Daisy turned into a championship match of sorts. Had East Hamilton won, Signal's Lady Eagles would have been crowned the champions.

The Lady Trojans made sure that didn't happen, sweeping the singles matches.

"I don't know when the last time was that we won a tournament, so I'm very pleased with our team," Johnson said.

East Hamilton coach Michael Jackson had reason to be happy about his team's third-place finish, as he mixed and matched his lineup over the two days with the absence of a couple of key players.

"It's a different format than what we're used to seeing, but there were a lot of good players here," Jackson said. "I thought we did well, and to go 2-2 against stiff competition is a good sign for our team."