Highland netters breeze past Granite City for non-conference home win
A week after grinding through tough Mississippi Valley Conference matches against Mascoutah and Waterloo, the Highland boys tennis team got a well-timed break when Granite City visited Highland High School on Monday, April 25.
The Bulldogs started fast and rolled to an easy 7-0 non-conference win against the Warriors, who were playing short-handed.
“It was a nice change after paying a couple of tight conference matches last week against Mascoutah and Waterloo,” Highland coach Matt Pellock said. “Granite City was down a couple of guys (due to attrition) so it just (kind of) worked out that way.”
In the singles flights, Highland’s No. 1 Tyler Kutz led the way with a 6-2, 6-0 win, overcoming a slow start to prevail.
“Tyler did pretty well against their No. 1,” Pellock said. “He had a couple of tight games to start and then he looked really comfortable after that.”
Alex Roach won the No. 2 singles match 6-1, 6-0 and Isaac Pasley claimed the No. 3 singles flight with a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Bryant Smith took the No. 4 singles match 6-0, 6-0; Ben Mitchell stopped his opponent at No. 5 singles 6-0, 6-0; and Will Lindsco gave the Bulldogs a singles sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 6.
Pellock credited his players’ experience with helping them roll through the singles flights.
“It was quick work by them,” Pellock said. “They just had a little more experience than them, so it ended up working out that way and we were able to win those matches pretty soundly.”
In doubles play, Pasley and Roach teamed up at No. 1 and dominated their eight-game pro set, cruising to an easy 8-2 win.
At No. 2 doubles Lindsco and Jack Meyer paired up and turned in a strong performance with an 8-2 victory.
Pasley and Roach have clicked well in limited action together and Pellock hopes to get them enough work for a potential postseason doubles spot in the coming weeks.
“Alex and Isaac will get some more matches together. That’s kind of a plan that we are (working on) to kind of get them some playing time together as we get close to the end of the season to give them some experience of what to expect in what possibly could be a sectional (doubles) appearance for them,” Pellock said. “We’ll see how these last few weeks go.”
Highland improved to 10-4 with the victory and Pellock believes the club is rounding into form as they head into the final stretch of regular season play.
“This is a two-week stretch (coming up) that is probably the most important of the season, so I’m hoping we can play at a high level for the next two weeks here, and that will help us for the final two, three weeks here ... hopefully we will get all our matches in (weather permitting),” Pellock said.
This story was originally published April 24, 2022 at 12:00 AM.