BY DAVE LINK
Theo Liakonis knew what he was getting into when he signed up to play for Catholic’s tennis team four years ago.
Getting to the Division II-AA state tournament in singles or doubles depended on winning East Region postseason matches against Baylor and McCallie, private boarding schools in Chattanooga with powerhouse tennis programs.
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Liakonis, a 2024 Catholic graduate, never made it to Spring Fling in Murfreesboro.
But he came close.
Liakonis lost postseason matches the past four seasons to Chattanooga McCallie in singles and doubles, including a 6-4, 6-1 loss to the Blue Tornado’s Juozas Cioladis of Ireland in this year’s Division II-AA East Region semifinals.
Liakonis was one win from state.
East Region finalists in singles and doubles advance to the state quarterfinals at Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro.
As a junior, Liakonis and 2024 graduate Ben Snyder reached the region doubles semifinals before losing to a McCallie team.
“I mean, it was brutal,” Liakonis said of getting to state. “I never did because I got stuck with Baylor and McCallie every year.”
Theo Liakonis (Photo by Danny Parker)
McCallie (14-0, 12-0 Division II-AA) finished the season ranked No. 19 in the nation by Universal Tennis Rating. It has dominated Division II-AA East Region entrants into state quarterfinals in recent years.
“It turns out whenever they get to the postseason, they just really turn it on, so it’s pretty tough,” Liakonis said.
Liakonis and the Irish aren’t the only ones in the region not able to get past McCallie for a state berth the past couple of seasons.
No Division II-AA East Region singles player or doubles team – except one from McCallie – made it to the state quarterfinals this year or in 2023.
And in 2022, McCallie had both of the East Region’s doubles spots in the Division II-AA quarterfinals, and one of two singles entries (Baylor had the other, Andres Mercedes of the Dominican Republic).
Longtime Catholic coach Rusty Morris knows how tough it is for his boys to get past players from McCallie and Baylor, which recruit nationally and internationally.
“That’s what happens when you have the No. 1 team in the country (McCallie) in your region,” Morris said.
It didn’t stop Liakonis from having a standout career for the Irish. He played his first two seasons at No. 2 singles behind Carson Gompert – who’s now playing at Tennessee-Chattanooga – and his final two seasons at the top position (Gompert was hurt almost all of 2023 before he graduated).
Liakonis didn’t lose in singles this season to any player in the 5Star Preps Coverage area, and his No. 1 singles victories included Webb School of Knoxville, Christian Academy of Knoxville, Johnson City Science Hill and Bristol’s Tennessee High.
All the wins were in straight sets.
“He won handily,” Morris said.
Liakonis also posted singles victories against Ensworth, Baylor, and Chattanooga Christian.
He lost four singles matches this season. One loss was to an instate player, McCallie’s Gabe Getz, an MTSU signee from Ooltewah.
One loss was to a player from Kentucky, William Lewis of Louisville, Ky.’s St. Xavier Catholic; and two losses were two international players, McCallie’s Ciodalis of Ireland and Baylor’s Arya Kallambella of Bengaluru.
Liakonis knows Getz from USTA tournament tennis.
“It’s good to see someone from the area finally got to the top level at that school (McCallie),” Liakonis said.
Liakonis started playing tennis as a youngster along with his twin sister, Eleni, and they’ve played tournament tennis through the years.
Eleni played No. 2 singles for Catholic this season and helped the Lady Irish win their fourth consecutive Division II-AA state championship.
While Elini has signed to play for Samford University, Theo is headed to the University of Tennessee, where he will play club tennis and study finance.
Theo’s primary college offers were at the Division II and III levels, and he didn’t decide until late in the recruiting process not to pursue a tennis scholarship.
“I didn’t really want to play college tennis because it was a huge commitment and I’ve already dedicated 12 years of basically every day after school, all my weekends, to tennis, and I wanted to branch out a little bit,” he said.
“But also, when I was going through the recruiting process, I realized it’s going to be like playing Baylor and McCallie every single match we play. It’s all foreign people. Most schools don’t even want to talk to you too much because they’re only looking for foreign kids or people from across the country that want to pay their way or whatever. It’s hard to find opportunities for players in their region of a school, and the school actually wants you.”