Young Highland boys tennis team has tough day at home against MVC rival Triad
Highland’s boys tennis team entered their Mississippi Valley Conference match against Triad hoping to give the Knights a competitive challenge.
Outside of the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles matches, however, the Bulldogs netters had a tough day as blustery conditions and an experience Triad club were too much for HHS to handle as the Knights rolled to a 9-0 win at Highland High School on Monday, May 1.
An unexpected illness left Highland without No. 3 singles player Jack Meyer and that forced Bulldogs coach Matt Pellock to shuffle his lineup a bit.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t quite have my full lineup as my guy, Jack Meyer — who was going to play No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles — was sick and I had to move two guys up,” Pellock said. “Triad’s top three guys are seniors, so I was expecting it to be a pretty tough match and was hoping to be a little more competitive in the middle of the lineup.
“But with those guys out and the conditions were pretty tough ... so it was tough to get an idea of what some good tennis was gonna look like.”
At No. 1 singles Grant Fleming lost to Jake Stewart of Triad 6-3, 6-2 but more than held his own.
“Our most competitive matches were at the top with Grant in his singles and doubles matches and there were some opportunities for him in his sets,” Pellock said. “Jake Stewart and Stewart Henderson are returning all-state tennis players so they’re experienced guys.”
Will Lindsco lost at No. 2 singles 6-0, 6-2 to Mark Foridicour of Triad. Bryant Smith fell to Triad 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, while Breckin Box dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision at No. 4 singles.
Thomas Mitchell lost his No. 5 singles match to the Knights 6-2, 6-0 and Kaleb Schwapech rounded out the singles flights with a 6-0, 6-0 setback at No. 6 singles.
In doubles play, Fleming and Lindsco fell to Stewart and Henderson 6-4, 6-2. At No. 2 doubles, Box and Smith dropped a 6-1, 6-0 match decision, while Mitchell and freshman Jackson Cline teamed at No. 3 doubles and lost their match 6-1, 6-0.
Highland (13-8) now heads into its final two weeks of the regular season looking to build some momentum for the IHSA Class 1A sectional tournament set for Friday, May 19, and Saturday, May 20, at Triad.
“We have a lot of matches this week and then that just about concludes our regular season matches,” Pellock said. “Our conference is pretty strong this spring and we will see Mascoutah, which has a nice team. Waterloo is a tough team and we have those two and Triad in our sectional, so it will be talented and deep.”
