The Park Hill boys tennis team took a big step closer to clinching the Suburban Conference Red Division championship on Thursday, April 24, by defeating Park Hill South 7-2.
The Trojans’ dominant win marked their first meeting with the Panthers this season and continued a recent run of success. Park Hill has now defeated Park Hill South six times in the past seven head-to-head matchups dating back to 2021, further cementing its hold on local bragging rights.
The Trojans swept the doubles but faced some struggles in singles. The Panthers’ success came from senior No. 3 Noah Slaughter and freshman No. 4 Sam Patel, who edged out Franco Timotei and Cody Phan of Park Hill in to win both matches via tiebreak.
Park Hill's doubles domination began with Drew Miller and Carter Lovitt flying to an 8-2 doubles victory while Will Poole and Timotei earned and 8-5 win. Bond Pasley and Phan teamed up and battled for a tie-breaker win, defeating Roberto Shepherd and Slaughter.
The Trojans moved to 11-2 on the season, 3-0 in conference play. They returned to the court on Saturday, April 26, to win their second consecutive Art Loepp Northland Tennis Tournament as the Miller and Lovitt pairing won first in A doubles while Phan won first in B singles.
Park Hill South dropped to 10-2-1 this season, 2-1 in conference play. While the Panthers’ conference hopes are dire, they still have hope of a postseason run, which ended last year against Park Hill in the district semifinals.
Park Hill can clinch the conference title this week when they host winless North Kansas City on Monday, April 28, before visiting Central (St. Joseph) on April 29.
More importantly, the Trojans and Panthers will conclude the regular season this week before switching attention to the Class 3 District 8 competitions. The individual tournament is set for Friday, May 2, before the team tournament May 5 through 8.
Park Hill’s top doubles team of Miller and Lovitt have high expectations after medaling at state last year. The reigning district doubles champions have already demonstrated their prowess this season with notable victories against juggernauts such as Pembroke Hill and Rockhurst.