CSAS duo claims region title

Early in the second set of their Region 3-A/AA tennis championship match, Arts & Sciences' Ian Derthick and Raymond Kim hit a slight lull and fell behind two games.

They had won a close first set, so the match seemed destined for a third set unless they could get a jolt of energy somewhere.

Their ultimate source of motivation ultimately came from a coach. It wasn't CSAS leader Jerry Pate, but it was enough to push Derthick and Kim to a region doubles title.

They won five of the final six games of the set, and their 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Collegedale Academy's Boston Londis and Michael Chung ensured them one of the eight spots when the Spring Fling starts next week.

The CSAS duo will match up against Region 4 champions Forrest Hooten and Adam Wolfe of Signal Mountain next Thursday at Old Fort State Park in Murfreesboro.

The turning point of the second set came after a controversial point. With Chung serving, Kim missed a shot and hit a wall in disgust with his racket. Collegedale coach Joe Chung argued there should have been a point penalty for racket abuse, but the rules state that one of the players needed to make the call. They didn't, and the Patriots duo eventually won the game.

They reeled off four consecutive games before Chung held serve to make it 5-4, CSAS. Derthick, whose serve was never broken, held to give the Patriots the victory.

Chung and Londis, both seniors, chose to stay in town while the rest of their graduating class went to New York for a senior trip.

"Ian's serve was very effective today," Chung said. "This was a fun match for us, though. I'm glad we got to experience this, and we have no regrets in staying."

Derthick admitted that the second-set exchange "motivated" the team.

"I was kind of [ticked] off that he came out there, but it helped me focus more," he said.

The two said the team's loss to Collegedale in the team tournament put things in perspective.

"We thought we were going to the state tournament this year," Kim said. "The loss made us settle down and think about things this weekend. It helped us concentrate on the match."

Said Derthick: "We realized that if we lost today, that we would be done with tennis for the season. This feels good. It's like it was meant to happen since they won it as a team."

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