April 7, 2017 at 2:32 p.m.
Hodag netters sweep season opener
Hodag netters sweep season opener
The Hodags won every match in straight sets to defeat the Raiders 7-0 Thursday on a chilly afternoon in Medford.
"Although sunny, very windy and cold," Rhinelander coach Bob Heideman said in an email to the River News. "The play in general was ragged with a lot of shots hitting the frames of the racquets."
Heideman said in his 33 years of coaching, April 6 is about as early as he's ever played a season-opening match. Only 10 days removed from the start of practice, Heideman said the early-season rust and jitters were apparent with his squad.
"We came out nervous and the match showed where we need to work. We will be hitting a lot of serves over the next week," he said.
Though the Hodags won every set, it was not necessarily smooth sailing. Half of the sets were decided by one break point or fewer. Reigning GNC player of the year Logan Wild played two of those sets, holding off Medford junior Alec Shear 6-4, 6-4 in No. 1 singles. Markus Johnson, last year's No. 4 singles champ, bumped up to the second flight Tuesday and needed a second-set tiebreaker to dispatch Alec Veal 6-1, 7-6 (1).
It was nearly a similar story at No. 1 doubles for Grant Gilbert and Jared Fabich, who held off Jake Merrill and Carter Ray 6-3, 7-5. Connor Young and Jared Haug, last year's third doubles champs, won at No. 2 doubles 7-6 (1), 6-1 over Marcus Reimann and Jon Wiegel.
"The positive was we were able to win close sets, which there were six of," Heideman said. "We won points at the right times, that's a good sign."
Lineup changes
Fabich, who played No. 2 doubles last year, bumped up to the first flight Tuesday. Logan Keso, who partnered with Gilbert to finish second in the GNC at No. 1 doubles last spring, played No. 3 singles Tuesday and dropped Medford senior Josh Brooks 6-3, 6-2.
"Logan Keso showed he could take his doubles game and adapt it to singles with his win," Heideman said.
Two sophomores made their varsity debuts Tuesday. Russell Benoy was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Charlie Branstetter at No. 4 singles and Jonus Sabani paired with senior Marshall Bessette to take the third doubles flight 6-1, 6-0 over Robert Hu and Zach Kawa.
"They are both pretty athletic and that showed - Jonus with his quickness and Russell with the power of his ground strokes," Heideman said. "It was good to see Marshall Bessette back in the lineup. As a senior he helps add experience to the No. 3 doubles team."
The Hodags (1-0, 1-0 Great Northern) travel to Wausau West for a quadrangular meet Saturday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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