Bluffton High falls to Bishop England in tennis tournament

The Bluffton High School tennis team went winless against Bishop England on Monday in state tournament play, ending their chances of bringing home the trophy.

Armed with No. 8 player in the nation in Jared Pratt, the Battling Bishops punched their ticket to the Final Four with ease.

And to add to the disappointing finish, the Bobcats will say goodbye to longtime head coach Robert Brown, who is leaving the program after 14 seasons.

Although he won’t be at the helm, Brown made it very clear that he expects the winning tradition to be upheld long after he’s gone.

“They have a good coach that’s going to replace me, and there’s no reason why they can’t continue on with this,” said Brown. “I don’t want this school to go from a winning tennis program to one that struggles. People come and people go and they’ve got some rebuilding to do, but I think they’ll do well.”

Brown knew what his team was up against but reminded them that upsets can happen.

“I gave them the old David and Goliath speech,” said Brown. “I asked them to play with courage. Let the chips fall where they may. All you can do is do your best and don’t quit and don’t be a coward.”

The team will graduate four seniors, all who have had a major impact on the program.

“We’ve been together for a long time,” said Brown. “These are six-year guys. I watched them go from non-shavers to shavers and they had a great career. We do a lot of winning here. We don’t win some of the big ones, but we have a lot of wins.”

After the season-ending loss, Brown reminded his team that have every right to be proud of what they’ve accomplished, not only for themselves but for the school as well.

“I don’t think it’s bad to say to yourself that you’re one of the top teams in the state,” said Brown. “I told them before the game that they’ll remember this match for the rest of their lives, and they should be proud.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Bluffton High falls to Bishop England in tennis tournament."