McCallie tennis player Luke Orthner returns the ball against Memphis University School's Spencer Richey.MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Notre Dame boys' tennis players gave themselves every possible opportunity in their Class A/AA state semifinal match Tuesday against Christian Academy of Knoxville. They just came up a little short.
The Irish pushed the Warriors into doubles before finally falling 4-2 at Middle Tennessee State University. The match was moved from the tennis courts at Old Fort after a three-hour rain delay halted play and pushed match times back.
Earlier in the day, the McCallie and Baylor boys' teams ended their seasons in the Division II-AA state semifinals.
The Irish (16-1) had wins from J.R. Davis and Jay Nguyen in singles, which forced doubles to be played. Three of the five singles matches went to three sets, with Charles Jabaley and Thomas Gaudin dropping long matches.
"It was a great match and fun to watch," Notre Dame coach Nancy Fox said. "CAK has a great team. There was some really good tennis being played out there.
"It was a fun year. We peaked at the right time."
Baylor (6-7) fell 4-1 to Montgomery Bell Academy, with Marko Mandic claiming the team's only win at No. 1 singles. McCallie lost 4-0 to Memphis University School in the other semifinal.
"I thought we played well in singles," Blue Tornado coach Eric Voges said. "We didn't play well in doubles, but some of that is because of MUS being a strong team.
"I feel good about how we played, but unfortunately they were a better team today."