April 26, 2017 at 2:45 p.m.
Tennis: Hodags sweep Medford again, remain perfect in GNC
Tennis: Hodags sweep Medford again, remain perfect in GNC
It was the second time the Hodags swept the Raiders but this time around Medford shuffled its lineup to put the pressure on the Hodag doubles' teams.
"This was a big win for us," coach Bob Heideman noted. "Medford gave up on winning the match by switching its best players to doubles, in the hope of winning a couple doubles matches. Winning 7-0 was a big step for us. The matches in doubles were close but we came out with three wins. I credit that partially to the competition we've been playing on Saturdays."
The No. 1 Hodag doubles team of Grant Gilbert and Jared Fabich needed three sets to take care of arguably Medford's two best players - Alec Veal and Alec Shear - who played Nos. 1 and 2 singles when the teams met earlier this month in Medford. After taking the first set 7-5, Gilbert and Fabich dropped the second 2-6, but rallied to take the third, 6-2.
Rhinelander's second doubles team of Connor Young and Jared Haug edged Carter Ray and Jake Merrill in a couple of close sets 7-6 (4), 6-4. Marshall Bessette and Logan Oestreich rounded out the doubles sweep with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Medford's Marcus Reisman and Charlie Brandstetter.
"In all three doubles, our positioning and shot selection was the difference," Heideman said. "Add to that not getting rattled when we were down helped."
The Hodags cruised in singles, dropping a total of seven games as they took each of the four flights in straight sets. Six of those games were dropped by No. 1 player Logan Wild, who fended off Josh Brooks 6-2, 6-4.
"Singles took care of business pretty easily," Heideman said. "Logan, however, got caught in the second set playing Brooks' game which was taking pace off the ball. He worked his way through but it was harder than it needed to be."
Markus Johnson and Russell Benoy had no difficulty in the second and third singles flights, beating opponents Robert Hu and Jon Wiegel 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Ian Conkey won the final singles flight over Zach Kawa 6-0, 6-0.
"With missing a couple of player, Ian Conkey filled in at No. 4 singles and picked his first varsity win," Heideman said. "He was steady throughout the match."
The win moved Rhinelander to 7-5 on the season, 3-0 in the GNC ahead of a showdown Friday at Antigo. Oddly enough, due to cancellations and postponements, Friday's dual will be Antigo's first Great Northern Conference match of the season.
The Red Robins defeated Rhinelander in non-conference play 4-3 earlier this month at the Wausau West Invite.
"Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into Friday's match
with Antigo," Heideman said.
Note: Heideman hit yet another coaching milestone as Tuesday's win was his 296th in boys' tennis. That, coupled with his record in girls' tennis, put Heideman at 500 overall victories.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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