September 29, 2017 at 4:29 p.m.
Hodag netters face tall task at subsectionals
Hodag netters face tall task at subsectionals
The Raiders will host a Division 1 subsectional that will, in essence, be a reprise of Thursday's Wisconsin Valley Conference tournament with the Hodags from the Great Northern Conference thrown in for good measure.
It's a familiar story to years past for the Hodags, who hover right above the Division 1-2 cutline. Despite a string of seven straight conference championships, the Hodags have had a mixed bag of success in the postseason - sometimes sending as many as five flights through to sectionals and other times struggling to send one.
Following a runner-up finish in the GNC this year, coach Bob Heideman conceded his team will have its work cut out for it on Monday.
"If we were to get two positions to sectionals, we will have had a good day," he said. "Anything more would be a great day."
As in years past, Heideman said the Hodags' uphill battle will begin in Monday morning's coaches' seeding meeting as he tries to shoehorn his players into what is otherwise a fairly straightforward seeding discussion based on the results of the WVC tournament.
The Hodags play a number of Valley schools during the season. Rhinelander went 3-2 against the WVC this year with losses to Stevens Point and Wausau West, and wins over D.C. Everest, Merrill and Marshfield. Heideman said those direct results can help settle where his players belong in the draw, but that's not always the case - especially if a Valley school's lineup for subsectionals is different than what it had when it played Rhinelander during a non-conference invite.
"That's the trouble with the way this sub(sectional) is set up with us being the lone wolf coming in," he said. "It's a difficult task, to say the least."
Heideman said he is hopeful that all four of his singles players can contend for top-four seeds in Monday's draw. That would have the most benefit for No. 1 singles player Belinda Weddle (13-9), who will play only one match Monday and needs to win it to extend her high school career onto Wednesday's sectional round in Wausau.
As for the rest of Rhinelander's singles lineup - Alex Oestreich (15-7), Emma Roberts (18-3) and Kenedy Van Zile (17-3) - they will have to win two matches to advance to sectionals. If they wind up a No. 4 or 5 seed that means, assuming they take care of their first match, they will likely have to play the No. 1 seed for the right to advance.
Heideman said the argument will be more difficult for him in the doubles flights because those teams have fewer head-to-head wins against the Valley.
"To make it through you have to be, in a way, a WVC all-star. I mean that in terms of a label for us," he said. "You have to be one of the final four as far as (No. 1 flights) and the rest, you have to be in the top two. That's the questions we have to ask ourselves, are we a WVC all-star, all-conference player. That's what it takes to get through."
Rhinelander was scheduled to play D.C. Everest Tuesday in a non-conference dual, but that match canceled due to rain. Heideman said the rainout likely did not carry much weight in terms of seeding, given the Hodags already defeated the Evergreens 7-0 back on Aug. 15. The dual meet, however, would have afforded the team one more opportunity against live competition heading into the tournament.
In lieu of that, Heideman said the Hodags tried to accomplish a number of things in practice this week.
"For doubles, the direction we want to go is that we want the girls to be more comfortable at the net," he said. "So we're spending a fair amount of time with drills that will hopefully accomplish that - a lot of volleys. The other thing, in the back of the girls' minds when they are at the net is that the can't be beat by the lob. What goes along with the ability to play at the net is the ability to cover the lobs.
"Singles-wise, we're trying to explore different styles of play, i.e. strategies, and how they work against various girls."
The subsectional round begins at 9 a.m. Monday at the Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School tennis courts.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.