The home court advantage was present for the Houston High School tennis team in a South Central Association conference match against Liberty on Tuesday, as the Tigers swept their way to a 9-0 victory.
Houston’s No. 1 doubles duo of senior Kolten Gayer and junior Connor McKinney were once again dominant in an 8-1 win, while the No. 2 squad of senior Waylon Collins and sophomore Maggie Wolfe triumphed 8-2 and the No. 3 team of sophomores Riley Wilson and Caleb McGiboney blanked their opponents 8-0.
In singles action, McKinney took the No. 1 match 8-2 and Gayer won the No. 2 match 8-4. Senior Stuart Smith kept the slate clean with an 8-2 victory in the No. 3 match, while Collins posted an 8-0 shutout in the No. 4 match, Wolfe won 8-6 in the No. 5 match and sophomore Jack Sandberg took the No. 6 match, 8-2.
Houston topped off the sweep with a pair of wins by sophomores in junior varsity play, as Halie Hamilton won 4-0 and Gavin Altman won 4-2.
McKinney’s results left him with a record of 12-2 approaching the halfway point of the season – 6-1 in singles and 6-1 with his partner Gayer in doubles. Last year, McKinney won the South Central Association conference singles championship and then took second in the Class 1 District 8 Tournament before falling in the sectionals round of the Class 1 state tournament.
