WCMS tennis suffers tough loss in Crossville

Both White County Middle School tennis teams lost their matches on Thursday night as they played on the road against combined Cumberland County teams. The boys lost by a score of 3-6 while the girls went 2 and 7 on the night  

“After a match like this one, a coach can definitely say, ‘There is such a thing as a good loss.’” White County coach Topher Wiles said. “Cumberland County knows we came to play.”  

The White County middle school program has a roster filled with young and inexperienced players this season. According to Wiles, out of the 12 players that made the trip to Crossville, half were sixth graders and more than that are first-year tennis players. As proof of the inexperience that White County is fielding this season, one which is filled with learning and gaining court time, both the Warrior and Warriorette number one seeds are underclassman forcing them to most frequently play up against eighth graders on match nights.  

“Combine our challenges with the fact that Cumberland County has twice as many middle school students to choose from in their school system, over three times the tennis courts in the county, and two full-time tennis pros at a resort racquet club with indoor all year round facilities, the White County tennis teams have less traditional resources than our opponents,” Wiles said. “But what we lack in physical resources, we make up for in sportsmanship, grit, and determination.” 

On Thursday, both the boys and girls teams played six singles matches and three doubles, with the boys getting three singles wins while the girls added one win each in singles and doubles competition.  Micah Wiles won his match 5-4 with Colton Ballew picking up a 4-3 win and Henry Zuber recording the Warriors’ final win, 4-2. For the Warriorettes it was Lella Whorton getting the lone singles victory with a 5-4 win. Whorton teamed up with Mila Cantrell to go 6-2 against Cumberland County’s 1 and 2 seeds to get White County’s only doubles match win. 

“Out of the five total matches won, three of them were in a tie-break or overtime,” Wiles said that. “That shows that, while were are young and inexperienced, we play the pressure points with smart strategy and determination. 

After opening week of play, White County tennis has four undefeated singles players in Whorton, Wiles, Ballew, and Zuber. The doubles pairing of Whorton and Cantrell is also undefeated.   

“Coach Tomi (Sims) and I are both proud of these students and all they are doing in the face of mountainous odds,” Wiles said. “We have high hopes for growth this season.” 

 White County tennis players will have plenty of time to work on the fundamentals of their game as their next match isn’t until September 2, when they will host a combined team of Averty Trace and Prescott South.