A dozen Longhorns ready for tennis district tourney

After a successful regular season, Johnson County's tennis teams have their sights set on not only district tournament success, but also regionals and the state tournament. The Class A, Region 1, District 1 tournament was to be Monday and Tuesday, April 27-28, at Science Hill High School in Johnson City. This comes off what Head Coach Zach Pittman called one of the biggest highlights of the season on Senior Night, April 21, against North Greene. "It was bittersweet getting to celebrate Hunter, Cecil, Harris, Kyle, and Lexi for their contributions both on and off the court," Pittman said. "I have grown close to this group, and I know there will be a large hole left on the team next year without their presence. It also was not a bad way to end our final home match, finishing the night with 17 wins and only 1 loss." Pittman noted a couple of big highlights this season: shutout wins over West Ridge, a school with three times as many students, plus beating Mountain Heritage (N.C.). "Mountain Heritage is the high school I attended and played tennis for, and they had an extremely strong team loaded with seniors and juniors, so that win was especially meaningful for me personally," Pittman said. Overall, Johnson County boys tennis finished with a 12-3 dual meet record. Head Coach Zach Pittman said the team MVP was Hunter Paisley, who returned from a traumatic injury. "Hunter has been a constant for this team over the past four seasons and has always known what it takes to win. He is the definition of a coach's player. He never gives up on a ball, he is extremely coachable, and he always leaves everything out on the court," Pittman said. Paisley and Kale Cox earned a spot in the district doubles tournament. Joining Paisley and Cox at the district tournament will be the player Pittman called his most improved: Cecil Perry. "His hard work and determination paid off in a big way, especially with his serve and a much-improved backhand," Pittman said, noting Perry dominated this season at the No. 4-5 singles seed. Perry will be in the district doubles tournament with Kyle Roberts, who came back to the team about halfway through the season. Harris Perkins had another successful season, coming up big with his new and improved serve, which won him most of his matches this year. Harris will be playing in the singles tournament along with the Longhorns' No. 1 player, Clayton Furches, who earned the No. 2 overall seed in the district singles tournament. What is most impressive, Pittman said, is that Clayton had never picked up a racket until last year. For the girls, their solid season landed them a middle-of-the-pack finish in an expanded conference. "Alexis Mullins was the girls' team MVP," Pittman said. "She made a huge jump up to the No. 1 seed this year and got better with every match. She had one of the best serves in the conference, and her power game was tough for many of her opponents to handle." Mullins and her doubles partner, Audrey Shaw, who played at the No. 2 seed despite only being a sophomore, were to be in the doubles tournament. A pair of sophomores made the jump this season with Liyah Hillman and Rosalie Mills, going from unseeded last year to the No. 3 and No. 4 singles seeds this season. "They routinely competed with girls who had much more experience than they did, and both will be playing in the singles tournament," Pittman said of Hillman and Mills. Rounding out the girls' squad is who Pittman called their rookie of the year, Candace Potter, who will be paired with Maria Olmedo in the district doubles tournament. With a full slate of boys and girls going to the district tournament, Pittman feels confident about their chances. "I truly believe every singles player and doubles team has the ability to make it through the first round of the tournament," Pittman said. "I also fully expect multiple players to make it to regionals, which will be held in Pigeon Forge this year. From there, I believe we have players capable of winning regionals and punching their ticket to the State Tournament, 'Spring Fling,' in Murfreesboro — something six Johnson County players have accomplished over the last decade."