Highland girls tennis hopes depth will drive another strong campaign amid COVID-19

As fall practices opened, the Highland girls’ tennis team is looking to establish themselves again this fall as one of the area’s top clubs.

That will be even more challenging this fall, as the Bulldogs — like all other area clubs — must compete under protective protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve done alright I think so far and it’s just kind of getting used to staying separated (distance-wise) and trying to avoid some tennis ball contact when you can,” Highland coach Matt Pellock said. “We’ll probably have around 21 players, so that’s going to be a bit of a challenge.”

The top three standouts from 2019 — Taylor Fleming, Kate Feldmann, and Ashlynn Deluca — have moved on to college, but the Bulldogs have three more seniors who will be ready to lead this season.

Seniors Sidney Basler, Hanna Geest, and Brianna Helm will form the core of this year’s Bulldogs squad.

“Those are our returning seniors and I would imagine they would all be trying to fill the top three (singles) spots,” Pellock said.

Key junior returners include Krista Rittenhouse and Kate Augustin.

Pellock also noted the club will get four players who will help from the Bulldogs volleyball team, which had their season pushed back to the spring due to the pandemic.

“They are good athletes and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do their first year,” Pellock said.

A talented freshman group is also expected to push for potential playing time by later in the season.

Pellock said the strength of the roster is its experience and depth which should pay big dividends as the Bulldogs look exceed the 12-3 edition that won the Mississippi Valley Conference championship in 2019.

“The depth and a good number of players who are all of the same experience having played together a couple of years, I think that will help the depth of our lineup,” Pellock said. “I think this year way may not be as strong at the top but we will still be competitive at the top and I think we’ll have really just (good) strength down the lineup.”

COVID-19 presents scheduling challenges

One potentially damaging effect of COVID-19 for some local teams has been scheduling matches. So far, Highland has not been too adversely affected schedule-wise and should play most, if not all, of its tournaments and matches against teams in its COVID region.

“It looks like it’s not too bad for us (scheduling) because we don’t play a ton of teams outside our region,” Pellock said. “So, that part’s good.”

Highland is slated to open the season at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, at Edwardsville.