Highland tennis finishes 4th in MVC singles, other HHS squads post successful results
Two days of tennis at Triad High School produced solid if not spectacular performances in the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament for the Highland Lady Bulldogs tennis team.
Highland finished fourth in the tournament in singles play with 15 points behind tournament champ Triad (52) and just six points behind third-place Waterloo (21).
“I thought they played pretty well overall,” Highland coach Matt Pellock said. “Based on our season results, we had kind of been in the fourth place spot, and in the tournament, we got some of those wins that we lost in the (regular) season. So I saw some progress there and we finished four flights ahead of Waterloo ... I felt like we got some of those matches back (from the regular season).”
Pellock also was happy the team got deep in the tournament in several flights in singles play.
“We ended up getting into the medal round in a few spots, too, which was a goal for us, so that was good to see,” Pellock said.
The tournament opened with doubles play Friday, Oct. 8, and the Lady Bulldogs were competitive in those matches. Lauren Herman and Addison Crask lost two close matches in their flight at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, Katie Augustin and Sophia Fleming finished third thanks to a clutch two-set victory over Waterloo.
At No. 3 doubles, Maya Pollard and Allie Rinderer finished with a pair of setbacks including a close super tiebreaker loss to Mascoutah in the fifth-place match.
“That was the first day (of play) and it put us slightly behind where we were hoping we would be with the doubles, but we got it turned around after the singles day,” Pellock said.
On Saturday, Oct. 9, the Lady Bulldogs had decidedly better showings in the singles flights.
Sophia Fleming finished third at No. 4 singles, winning a super tiebreaker match to claim third in the third-place match. Crask won a three-set tiebreaker in her third-place match to get third at No. 3 singles.
“We had some tiebreakers in the first round at No. 5 and No. 6 (singles) with Allie and Nicole (Bluhm) came out ahead in those. So any time we split sets we were able to win that point tiebreaker which definitely put us into that fourth spot,” Pellock said.
Herman and Augustin battled at No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots but could not place in their flights.
HHS ended the regular season at 10-6 in dual match play.
Cross Country
The Highland boys and girls cross country teams wrapped up their 2021 regular season with a productive trip to the Mississippi Valley Conference Meet on Thursday, Oct. 14, at Principia College in Elsah.
In the boys division, the Bulldogs harriers shined as they took home the championship with 48 points. Avery Brock and Cole Basden led the way for the Bulldogs finishing ninth (16:44.7) and 10th (16:44.3), respectively. Christian Knobloch and Mason Steinbeck also turned in top-15 finishes as Knocboch placed 12th (16:48.9) and Steinbeck came in 13th (16:51.8)
Meanwhile, in the girls race, Highland finished a strong second to conference champ Waterloo with 56 points. Tarryn Keeny topped the Lady Bulldogs runners with a sixth-place finish (19:48.7). Peyton Frey and Liv Heinzmann also turned in top-10 finishers with Frey placing ninth (19:58) and Heinzmann taking 10th place (19:58.5). Junior Maddie Dortch rounded out the top four finishers for the Lady Bulldogs with an 11th place finish (19:59.1).
Boys Golf
Highland senior golfer Dominick Emig finished his high school career on a solid note with a top-45 performance Saturday, Oct. 9, at the IHSA Class 2A state tournament at Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
Emig shot a 79 in the first round Friday, Oct. 8, to qualify for the final round and backed that up in the finals with a 76 for a 155 two-day score which landed him with a 45th place finish.
Emig was the Bulldogs lone qualifier for state this fall.
Boys Soccer
A first-half goal by Alex Roach assisted by goalie Luke Stieb was all the Highland boys soccer team needed Monday, Oct. 11, to knock off Alton 1-0 in a non-conference match at GCS Ballpark.
Stieb turned in a strong effort to get the shutout.
On Tuesday, Oct. 12, the Bulldogs returned home to face Mississippi Valley Conference foe Jerseyville. HHS scored three first-half goals and then exploded for six second-half tallies en route to a 9-0 blowout win.
HHS ended the week on a strong note with a 4-0 win at MVC foe Waterloo. Jacob Oliver paced HHS with a hat-trick and Roach added a goal.
Girls Volleyball
A busy five-match stretch in the Highland Tournament ended on a positive note for the Lady Bulldogs volleyball team Saturday, Oct. 9, at Highland Middle School.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the tournament with a 25-12, 25-6 win over Father McGivney but then fell to Breese Central 23-25, 25-21, 17-25.
HHS then lost to Gateway Legacy Christian 19-25, 6-25 and dropped a 16-25, 11-25 decision to Centralia before rebounding in the final match of the tournament with a two-set win over Altamont, 25-10, 25-17.
Highland traveled to Jerseyville on Tuesday, Oct. 12, for a Mississippi Valley Conference matchup with the host Panthers. After losing the first set, the Lady Bulldogs ultimately prevailed for a 21-25, 25-21, 25-13 road victory.
On Thursday, Oct. 14, HHS visited Breese Mater Dei and lost to the host Knights 25-23, 25-18 in a non-conference match.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 8:52 PM.