Highland girls tennis team falls to O’Fallon in road match while toppling Hillsboro
A day after a successful season debut at home with a win over Hillsboro, the Highland girls tennis team’s best efforts were not quite enough to overtake an experienced and skilled O’Fallon Panthers squad.
HHS played hard throughout but the Panthers were too much, handing Highland a 9-0 setback Thursday, Sept. 2, at O’Fallon Township High School.
“We played alright and didn’t win any matches, but they were a bit better than us and they are pretty experienced,” Highland coach Matt Pellock said. “I thought we hit (the ball) pretty well.”
In the singles flights, Lauren Herman at No. 1 dropped a 1-6, 1-6 match decision while, at No. 3 singles, Katie Augustin fell 1-6, 0-6.
“Lauren played a pretty long match and definitely made the O’Fallon girl work for many of the points that were played in the match,” Pellock said. “Katie had another tough opponent and these girls from O’Fallon have played multiple varsity seasons, but Katie played pretty good on points too.
“It’s just kind of tough with the top girls from O’Fallon so you try to put yourself in a position so you can get a decent shot in. Katie was able to do that sometimes, but just not enough to stay kind of competitive in the sets.”
In other singles action, Addison Crask lost 0-6, 0-6 at No. 3 singles and Allie Rinderer fell 0-6, 0-6 at No. 4 singles.
Although she came up short in her No. 5 singles match, Sophia Fleming was a bright spot as she nearly played to a second set tiebreaker before falling 0-6, 5-7.
“She battled and started having more success on her serve and started having success handling the power from the O’Fallon player. That was definitely helping her force some errors and getting her in the position where she could attack a little bit more than she was in the second set (of the match),” Pellock said. “So, she was almost able to get to a tiebreaker in the second set.”
At No. 6 singles, Nicole Bluhm lost 1-6, 2-6.
Highland also struggled in the doubles flights as Herman and Augustin lost 2-8 at the No. 1 slot. Crask and Fleming dropped a 2-8 match at No. 2 doubles and Rinderer and Maya Pollard were bested 0-8 in their No. 3 doubles matchup.
“You’re playing a little more defense than offense against them (O’Fallon) so it’s a much tougher match,” Pellock said.
A day earlier, the Lady Bulldogs opened their 2021 season with a satisfying 8-1 home dual match win over Hillsboro. Highland swept the six flights with six victories and then finished off the contest by claiming the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches.
Boys golf
On Thursday, Sept 2, the Highland boys golf team kept their strong early start going with a solid second place finish in a tri-match against O’Fallon and Triad at Tamarack Golf Couse in O’Fallon.
HHS shot a 164, finishing behind first place host O’Fallon (154) and 10 strokes ahead of third place Triad (164). A day earlier, the Bulldogs claimed a tri-match win over Triad and Granite City at Legacy Golf Course in Granite City, shooting a 155.
Dominick Emig and Bryce Knackstedt tied for medalist honors, each shooting a 38. Easton Belford and Braden Schropf also fared well with scores of 30 and 40, respectively.
Girls golf
In girls golf Wednesday, Sept. 1, the Lady Bulldogs finished fourth in a quad match at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood Rivers against Alton Marquette, Triad and host Roxana. Camryn Burns and Brooke Hunsche led the Lady Bulldogs, shooting a 46 and 48, respectively. Kalei Gould was also solid, firing a 49.
Volleyball
The HHS volleyball team got their first win Thursday, Sept. 1, capturing their 2021 season home debut over Granite City.
Boys soccer
Highland’s boys soccer team started the season with three wins in four games. The Bulldogs blanked Carterville 5-0 in late August in their final game of the Metro Cup Tournament.
Overall, HHS went 2-1 in the tournament with wins over Breese Central 2-1, and Carterville while losing only to Springfield 2-1.