CPA mentor cut teeth as Pacer Posted: Friday, May 27, 2011 12:02 am
By: Kenneth Coker, Press Sports MURFREESBORO —They go way back.
Simply put, that describes the relationship between Greenfield tennis skipper Bill McCall and Christ Presbyterian Academy mentor Greg Seat.
Seat and McCall — whose charges did battle on the courts at the Class A-AA Tennis Tournament on Tuesday — were teammates long ago, having played together on UT Martin’s tennis squad back in the mid-1970s.
Seat has been the CPA skipper the past five years, leading the squad to the state championship a year ago.
“It’s good to see Billy up here with his team,” Seat said. “We spent a lot of time together in college. We both majored in natural resource management. We both were in the Baptist Student Union and we played ping-pong in our down time.
“It’s good to have a friend up here at the state tournament even if we are in competition with one another.”
McCall shared a similar sentiment.
“I hadn’t seen him since we played until we met back up here (at the state tournament) last year,” he said. “It’s been good to catch up with him. He’s got a real good team and they won state last year.
“We’ve made it to state the past two years, so that’s pretty neat for the both of us to be here.”
INDIVIDUAL FEATS: Greenfield’s Emily Allen had her work cut out for her. The sophomore Lady Yellowjacket was taking on the best the state has to offer — literally — on Tuesday afternoon.
CPA’s Sydney Campbell is the reigning Class A-AA state champion and she’s also in the individuals tournament this season.
“I had my fingers crossed that she might turn pro before this season,” McCall said. “She hits the ball really hard and is among the best players you could go against the state.”
BACK AGAIN: Though she’s moved on, UT Martin tennis player Katie McCall said she wouldn’t have missed Tuesday’s Class A-AA State Tournament for anything.
The former No. 1 G’field lady was in the crowd at Murfreesboro’s Old Fort State Park to cheer on her former teammates as they took on defending state champion CPA.
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she said. “I wanted to show them I support the team even though I’ve graduated.
“I also came up to help them out because they were nervous and I thought I could give them pointers on what it’s like to compete up here.”
CAUSE TO WIN: CPA was playing for a greater cause than the state championship on Tuesday, according to its skipper.
The squad’s captain — Natalie Seale — has been sidelined this season due to a cancer diagnosis.
The CPA senior was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this spring.
She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and Seat told that he believed she would beat the disease.
That said, the team has rallied together and around Seale during this time, dedicating its campaign to her as she fights the battle of her life.
“They’ve pledged to her not to lose another match and so far, so good,” Seat said.
Thus far, the Lady Lions’ team has kept the promise as the squad is 18-0 on the campaign.
Also, No. 1 seed Sydney Campbell is a perfect 12-0 on the season.
“It shows how much shows how much she meant to the team,” Seat said.
Though taking treatments, Seale has been to some CPA matches.
DELAYED AGAIN: For the second straight season, Greenfield was standing around at the Class A-AA State Tournament prior to its match.
With a start time of 3 p.m. announced, the team was ready to go at that hour.
However, G’field’s outing against CPA did not begin until about 4:15 as no courts were available due to earlier matches that were taking longer to complete than expected.
Last year, the Lady Yellowjackets had a two-hour wait prior to their state tournament match.
The time prior to play was spent under a pavillion away from the sunshine and the thousands of locusts that were buzzing throughout the area.
wcp 5/26/11 None | 
