Highland Park’s boys doubles team of Collier Muenker and Steven Hu picked the right time to play their best tennis of the year.
Despite not taking first at the district or regional tournaments, the pair had a celebratory ride home from San Antonio Friday after claiming the program’s first gold medal since 2022 at the Class 5A State Championships at the Northside Tennis Center.
Muenker and Hu dropped just one set over four matches en route to first, becoming the first HP boys doubles team to win a state championship in 20 years.
“What a run,” said HP second-year head coach Vince Sharp. “I’ve had some kids win before at previous schools, but this one feels different. It was just awesome.”
Muenker and Hu capped their run in emphatic fashion, defeating Frisco Centennial’s Aarohan Sharma and Akshay Kommineni Friday in the finals in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).
“We were honestly expecting the championship match to be a little tougher competition,” Sharp said. “That team had only lost once in six months to a team that had the 6A state champ in singles. And they have beaten our guys before. The boys just executed their plan perfectly. It was the best tennis I’ve seen them play all year.”
Sharp noted the senior Muenker carried the load during the first set with sophomore Hu taking command in the second.
“There was never a point where either of them weren’t playing well,” he said. “It was just all heart out there. We just wanted it. Desire on the tennis court makes a difference and Collier willed us through that first set. He just wanted it more than anything. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
HP’s team had reached the finals after getting through their toughest match of the tournament earlier Friday in the semifinals.
Facing another team they had previously lost to, Muenker and Hu needed three sets to get past Frisco Memorial’s Zachary Belyea and Sohan Chintala (6-4, 4-6, 6-2).
On Thursday, the duo cruised to wins over Zach Graham and Brycen Morales of Flour Bluff (6-2, 6-1) and Hayes Clark and Krew Luxton of Wichita Falls Legacy (6-4, 6-2) to reach the semifinals.
“I’m just so proud of the guys,” Sharp said. “It was certainly a fun ride home.”
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