MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — At the behest of his father, Baylor School senior tennis player Wade Donovan sat down Tuesday night and watched the 2004 movie "Miracle."
Based on the United States' improbable victory over the Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal in men's hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, it's not surprising that Donovan's dad — Kevin, a former head coach for the Red Raiders — would suggest an inspirational sports film the night before Baylor faced Chattanooga rival McCallie in the Division II-AA team final at the TSSAA Spring Fling.
As to why that particular movie, knowing a little about the history between the programs — both the national hockey teams and the high school tennis teams — makes it even more clear, which is why one scene in particular stood out to the younger Donovan. Kurt Russell, portraying U.S. coach Herb Brooks, gives a pregame speech to his players telling them that one contest against the Soviets — this one — is the one that matters at that moment: "If we played them 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. ... This is your time."
Donovan had been a part of four consecutive Baylor teams that had failed to defeat McCallie in a match, including a loss in the Division II-AA final a year ago. And when it came to individual matches, Donovan had never won against the Blue Tornado, including a pair of losses this season.
But for both Donovan and the rest of the Baylor tennis program, girls included, this was their time.
Baylor ended tennis state championship droughts of six seasons in boys' competition and nine season in girls' competition Wednesday at the Adams Tennis Complex, halting long title runs for their opponents in both cases. The Red Raiders defeated five-time reigning champion McCallie 4-0, while the Lady Red Raiders were 4-1 winners against Knoxville Catholic, which had won the four previous titles.
It's the first sweep for Baylor since 2016 and the fourth overall for the program, with the first two in 1993 and 1996. The all-time team titles counts are now 16 for the Red Raiders and 14 for the Lady Red Raiders.
"It's amazing," said Donovan, whose sister Molly is a member of the girls' team, adding that winning a state title "was just one of the feelings that when I was in sixth grade, I knew I needed to accomplish before I left high school, and that was what I did."
Donovan won a singles match against McCallie for the first time, prevailing 6-2, 6-1 on the No. 5 court, with the other team points in singles provided by victories from No. 1 Arya Kallambella, 6-1, 6-3, and No. 2 Anurag Kallambella, 7-5, 6-2. The Red Raiders got the doubles point by winning two of those three matches, thanks to the teams of Jackson Mactaggert and Fernando Navarro, who won 8-5 at No. 2, and Arya Kallambella and Patrick Mactaggart, who won 8-4 at No. 3.
#WeAreBaylor
