Highland boys tennis team posts non-conference road victory against Belleville West

Jonathan Duncan
·3 min read

The Highland boys tennis team trekked down to Belleville West on Monday, March 27, and had a very successful visit.

HHS started and finished strong in rolling to an 8-1 nonconference match win over the host Maroons.

In singles play, Grant Fleming defeated Jerry Aplin in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Bryant Smith defeated West’s Landon Kinderer for a win at No. 3 singles 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. At No. 4 singles, Jack Meyer beat Belleville West’s Jay Naylor 6-4, 6-7, 10-7. At No. 5 singles, Breckin Box knocked off Morgan Jung of the Maroons 3-6, 7-5, 10-4 and at No. 6 singles, Thomas Mitchell downed Bryce Sansocie 6-3, 6-2.

Getting a second road win and moving to 3-0 in the young season left Highland coach Matt Pellock pleased.

“I thought, overall, it went pretty well (for us),” Pellock said. “We got eight wins and, overall, we started well with the doubles. And in the singles, there were really close first sets, but we came back in those in a couple of them, so it was good to see that.”

For Belleville West, the match was its opener and a first step toward coach Kelcie Coyne in developing a 2023 team that lost virtually all of its roster to graduation and is playing with a very young group this spring.

“I was really proud of the team’s effort today. Highland has a great tennis team and I thought we played them competitively,” Coyne said. “We lost three super tiebreakers and, overall ... I was pleased with the effort and that they showed in the opening match of the season.”

McKinley Lanciault was the big bright spot for West, coming away with a win over Highland’s Will Lindsco in straight sets at No. 2 singles.

“He played a great match,” Coyne said.

The No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 singles matches all ended in super-tiebreakers and the Bulldogs ultimately gained control of the match thanks to those big wins.

“Those (matches) in the middle of the lineup were all pretty close, and really, any of those could have gone either way,” Pellock said.

Highland continued to dominate in the double flights. Fleming and Lindsco defeated Aplin and Lanciault at No. 1 doubles 8-0, while Smith and Meyer teamed up to win 8-4 over West’s KInderer and Naylor at No. 2 doubles.

At No. 3 doubles, Box and Mitchell defeated Jung and Sansocie 9-7, giving HHS a clean sweep of the doubles flights.

Although they have yet to play a tournament due to rain and cold weather, Pellock is satisfied with his young club so far.

“We’ve got a good group, and it’s younger so that’s fun. My top two guys are sophomores, so it will be fun to see how these guys do this year and develop,” Pellock said.

Highland’s Will Lindsco finishes a serve during the No. 1 doubles match on Monday, March 27, at Belleville West High School. The Bulldogs ultimately defeated the Maroons 8-1 in a nonconference match.
Highland’s Will Lindsco finishes a serve during the No. 1 doubles match on Monday, March 27, at Belleville West High School. The Bulldogs ultimately defeated the Maroons 8-1 in a nonconference match.
Belleville West’s Jerry Aplin returns a shot during a nonconference tennis match against Highland on Monday, March 27, at Belleville West High School. HHS started and finished strong in rolling to an 8-1 match win over the Maroons.
Belleville West’s Jerry Aplin returns a shot during a nonconference tennis match against Highland on Monday, March 27, at Belleville West High School. HHS started and finished strong in rolling to an 8-1 match win over the Maroons.