Highland High School boys tennis team falls short in road match at MVC rival Triad
The Highland boys tennis team trekked to Troy to face Mississippi Valley Conference rival Triad and had big plans entering the match.
However, the always tough and experienced Knights were too much for the Bulldogs to handle.
Despite Highland’s best efforts, Triad rolled through all six of the singles flights and won two of three doubles matches en route to an 8-1 decision Monday, May 3.
Facing the Knights in dual match play for the first time in almost two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic was a tall order for HHS.
“They’re usually very deep and strong through their lineup, and this is certainly no exception,” Highland coach Matt Pellock said. “A lot of these guys haven’t seen the heart of their lineup in a couple of years.”
Sutherland Allen lost his match at No. 1 singles while Tyler Kutz lost at No. 2 singles. At No. 3 singles, Alex Roach was defeated and Ben Mitchell (No. 4 singles), Tyler Hunter (No. 5 singles), and Bryant Smith (No. 6 singles) also lost in their flights.
“Their singles, they have a very strong lineup and their No. 1 guy is one of the best in the area,” Pellock said.
In doubles play, the Bulldogs No. 2 doubles duo of Roach and Mitchell fell 1-6, 2-6, and their No. 3 doubles pairing of Hunter and Skylar Hedgehold lost 1-6, 0-6.
There was a silver lining as the Bulldogs No. 1 doubles team of Allen and Tyler Kutz teamed up to knock off Triad’s duo of Max Froiecouer and Dillon Henderson 6-3, 6-4.
“It was a pretty tough day, but we got an important win at the end as our No. 1 doubles team won,” Pellock said. “The first set was a lot of holding serve back and forth, and then we broke the serve toward the end of the set. In the second set, we got up 5-4, and Sutherland served really well (at that point) and set Tyler up really well at the net, and we got the win.”
Overall, Pellock has been very pleased with the Bulldogs start to the 2021 spring season as Highland still boasted a 4-1 dual match mark following the Triad loss.
Included in that good start have been conference wins against Mascoutah and Waterloo and non-conference victories over Granite City and Roxana.
Bulldogs take part in Belleville East Invitational
Highland also participated in its first tournament of the season Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1, at the Belleville East Invitational with matches against Belleville West, Belleville East and Alton. The Bulldogs lost to East and West but defeated Alton.
“I think it helped to have a tournament over the weekend because we got a lot of tennis in. With tournaments you’re able to play a lot of matches, and it settles you into the match mode because these guys hadn’t played really significant matches in a couple of years,” Pellock said. “So, it was nice to get the tournament in and work against good competition.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 9:00 AM.