November 1, 2017 at 1:10 p.m.
Team review: RHS girls' tennis
GNC title streak ends but Hodags hopeful for future
Team review: RHS girls' tennis
The Hodags, who had won each and every Great Northern Conference title since joining the league in 2010, fell just short of a conference eight-peat after getting edged out for the title by a senior-laden Antigo squad.
That was followed by a short stay in the WIAA tournament where the Hodags advanced only one flight to the sectional round.
Yet coach Bob Heideman was upbeat last month about a season that saw the Hodags go 15-6 overall, and 9-1 in conference duals.
"It was one of those seasons where I enjoyed the company of the girls and having the opportunity to go through the season with them," he said last month during the team's banquet. "From that aspect, it was an enjoyable season."
An enjoyable season and, perhaps, a building one for the Hodags. With eight underclassmen on the varsity roster Heideman said he is optimistic the Hodags can reload and try to establish a new conference winning streak next year.
Here are five things to remember about this year's squad.
Big shoes to fill
The Hodags faced a daunting rebuilding project entering the 2017 season, having graduated its top two singles players and top two doubles teams from the 2016 campaign. That meant big jumps for a number of players. Belinda Weddle vaulted from No. 3 singles to No. 1. It was the same leap for Livi Roberts and Haley Seefeldt in doubles. Alex Oestreich bumped up from No. 4 singles to No. 2. For the rest of the team, 2017 marked their first significant varsity action.
"There were a lot of shoes to fill," Heideman said. "These girls went in and I think grabbed that bull by the horns and went after a good season.
"I think there was some uncertainty and the uncertainty was because most of them had not been through it. So you do not exactly know (how they will respond). In that sense, it was a brave group and they did not shy away from the challenge."
Eight will wait
Despite all the fresh faces, early in the season, the Hodags appeared to be up to the challenge of keeping the conference championship streak intact.
Rhinelander started 4-0 in league play, which became 5-0 after the team overcame a sluggish start to defeat Antigo 4-3 in a dual meet Aug. 31 at the RHS tennis courts.
The tables turned five days later in Antigo, however. The Robins, with an altered lineup, swung two flights in their favor in the rematch, won 5-2 and carried the upper hand in the Great Northern Conference standings into the conference tournament.
The Hodags entered the GNC meet four points behind Antigo and, despite an early head-to-head upset at No. 2 doubles, the Hodags entered the final round needing to win all five championship matches they were involved in to steal away the conference crown.
Antigo's Maya Gaedtke and Izzy Matuszewski made sure that didn't happen, routing Weddle and Oestreich in the top two flights as the Hodags wound up seven points short in the final conference tally.
"We hung in there," Heideman said afterward. "I'm proud of the team. We'll improve, work hard and see what happens. This match wasn't decided until (late in the final round). That says something (about this team's resolve). Antigo was just slightly better in more positions. I give them credit."
Surprising steps
One player was shocked by her results, another was a longshot - in Heideman's estimation - for a 20-win season and two of them were in Heideman's doghouse at one point during the season. What do the four have in common? They were all Great Northern Conference champions.
The fact that Emma Roberts and Kenedy Van Zile won singles titles, and that Alexis Pyrchalla and Madi Losch were the No. 2 doubles titlists illustrated the growth the four underclassmen achieved during the season.
Emma Roberts finished 20-4 this season at No. 3 doubles, something that Heideman quipped during the banquet he would have "bet his house" against happening prior to the season.
"Emma has a competitive intensity that is sometimes hard to see, but it's there," he said. "The other thing is, because of the season that she had, she's great guns about what's going to happen on this team next year. I think she's preparing herself to lead this team next year."
Van Zile was another player who had to make a big leap this year - from Rhinelander's third or fourth junior varsity singles player as a freshman to a starter at No. 4 singles as a sophomore. But she took it in stride, going 18-4 overall and cruising to a title.
"It doesn't seem real," she admitted shortly after beating Antigo's Avery Nicholson for the No. 4 singles crown. "I never thought I'd be in a situation where I'd win conference for No. 4 singles."
As for Losch and Pyrchalla, Heideman tinkered with the possibility of splitting the two up midway through the season in search of better results from the No. 2 doubles flight. Lisa White worked into the mix at that spot when the team traveled to Green Bay for an invite over Labor Day weekend. That apparently lit a fire under Losch and Pyrchalla that became fully engulfed by the time of the conference tournament. The tandem came into the tourney 0-4 against Antigo's Sydney Lenzner and Pia Spychalla, and Medford's Mandi Baker and Mariah Leader. The Hodag pair beat both teams that Saturday on their way to the conference crown.
"I think that part of how they reacted to that is why the ended up to be the conference champs at No. 2 doubles," Heideman said, referencing the mid-season demotion. "I didn't see a lot of moping on the court when I substituted some people in. I knew that they weren't happy, but I just saw them go about their business and actually play harder because they wanted to be that No. 2 team."
Belinda's run
Belinda Weddle was not greeted warmly when she joined the sorority of No. 1 singles players. She went 1-4 in her first meet on the job - which was more losses than she had in all of 2016 when she posted a 26-3 record at No. 3 singles.
Weddle eventually found her footing, posting a record of 15-10 on the season, which included a runner-up finish at conference and her fourth trip to sectionals.
"The depth of Belinda's contribution to our program is partially told by her numbers," Heideman said after Weddle's season came to an end in a sectional quarterfinal match against Eau Claire Memorial's Sierra Auleta. "Eighty-one wins puts her up with the greats of Rhinelander girls' tennis history, but it doesn't say what a great kid she is and a pleasure to have on the team."
What's next
Weddle and No. 1 doubles player Livi Roberts are the only two players set to graduate from this year's squad. That will likely result in a bump up in class in the singles flights for Oestreich, Emma Roberts and Van Zile, and that Seefeldt will need to find a new doubles partner after two years.
The good news is that the Hodags enter the winter months with players ready to fill those roles. White, a sophomore, saw some time both at No. 2 and 3 doubles this fall while Izzy Haverkampf and Jaiden Thiel made a couple of spot starts in singles.
"This year is one I will remember - and I hope they'll remember it too - for being a fun season, a successful season and one which I think set the stage and kept the program in good stead for the next season," Heideman said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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