The Houston High School tennis team had some success last week, winning 5-0 in a weather-shortened match Tuesday at Licking.
The Tennis Tigers then competed in the 4-team Salem Invitational on Friday.
The match at Licking was played in what HHS head coach Josh McKinney called “some horrible conditions,” and was cut short to ensure the safety of both teams’ players and fans.
While play was under way, Houston swept the three doubles competition, with senior Kolten Gayer and junior Connor McKinney winning the No. 1 match 8-4, senior Stuart Smith and sophomore Maggie Wolfe taking the No. 2 match 8-6 and senior Waylon Collins and sophomore Riley Wilson prevailing in the No. 3 match, 8-4.
Two singles matches were completed, with McKinney taking the No. 1 match 8-2 and Gayer winning 8-5 in the No. 2 match. The other four singles matches were called off when the weather became a threat.
In the Salem event, McKinney and Gayer took first place in the Flight 1 doubles bracket, winning their matches 8-4, 8-0 and 8-4.
“This is the first year I have played them in doubles instead of singles,” coach McKinney said, “and they responded well and played pretty well.”
Wilson (Houston’s No. 6 player) and sophomore Caleb McGiboney (the team’s No. 1 JV player) represented the Tigers in the Flight 2 doubles bracket and went 1-2, falling 9-7, winning 8-5 and then losing 8-5.
The duo had a 7-2 lead in the first match.
“Not to close that one out was heartbreaking,” coach McKinney said.
Smith played in Flight 1 singles and also went 1-2, falling 8-0, winning 8-1 and then losing 8-5.
“He was playing players ranked higher on their teams than he is,” said coach McKinney. “I feel he had a really good day against good competition and gained some confidence to take into our future matches.”
Collins played Flight 2 singles and went 1-1, login 801 and then winning 8-1. He didn’t get to play his last match due to an appointment he had to attend.
“He played his best tennis of the year,” coach McKinney said. “He was also playing better players than he is ranked, and I felt he had a good chance to take second place if he could have finished.
“Overall it was a good day and I saw some growth in the players and it will make us more competitive moving forward.”
This week, the Tennis Tigers host a South Central Association match against Liberty on Tuesday.