Highland Park’s tennis team is back to its customary spot atop the District 12-5A tennis landscape.
The squad improved its performance Tuesday-Wednesday at the 12-5A tournament in Allen, qualifying eight individuals for regionals en route to first-and second-place performances in the team standings.
The Scots proved to be the top squad after claiming six of the eight regional berths available, while the Lady Scots advanced a pair of athletes following a 2025 campaign in which they were shut out.
“It was a big improvement on last year for sure,” said Vince Sharp, HP head coach. “I was a little concerned because we had some kids nursing injuries, but they did what they needed to do and we really performed up to our typical standards.”
It was an all-HP finals in both boys doubles and mixed doubles, but it was the depth of the Scots that helped earn the first-place finish in the team standings.
“We were able to get seven of our eight boys to the second day, which was big for us,” Sharp said. “We’re really excited about that and for the success of our doubles teams. On the girls side, we finished second to Wakeland, but we really closed the gap on them from what happened last year.”
Two Scots will be making return trips to regionals in senior captains Collier Muenker and Pierce Collard.
Doubles teammates a year ago, Collard teamed with senior Prestcott Barnell while Muenker joined forces with sophomore Steven Hu setting up a showdown in the finals that went the way of Collard and Barnell (6-4, 6-4).
In mixed doubles, HP’s pairing of seniors Marni Peus and Austin Chantilis defeated the duo of teammates and seniors Will Robertson and Lauren Chandler in the finals (6-4, 6-4).
Narrowly missing out on qualifying for regionals were Eoin Burgess and Clive Curry.
Burgess placed third in the girls singles, while Curry took bronze on the boys side.
“We made some strategic decisions to the lineups that we thought would give us a better chance and they worked out well,” Pierce said.
HP’s qualifiers will now gear up for regionals April 17-18 at Richland High School in Prosper, where the top three performers in each bracket will qualify for state.
Among the programs battling against 12-5A qualifiers will be representatives from Frisco Centennial – which claimed the 5A team championship during the fall team season.
“It’s always tough in our region,” Sharp said. “We are two of the top districts and I imagine that our teams will be seeded in every draw. When you look at Centennial, we were super close with them in team tennis during the fall and their next-closest match besides us was 10-3.”
Editor’s Note: A prior version of this story misstated the current 5A team tennis state champion. The state champion is Frisco Centennial, not Frisco Wakeland.
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