August 24, 2018 at 12:43 p.m.
Hodag tennis blanks Phillips to improve to 13-0
Hodag tennis blanks Phillips to improve to 13-0
The Hodags swept Phillips 7-0 in a Great Northern Conference dual at RHS tennis courts and were nearly perfect in the match. Rhinelander dropped only two games in total in a dual meet that took just more than an hour to complete.
"We kept our focus well from beginning to end," Hodag coach Bob Heideman said. "Phillips fought hard from start to finish which helped."
Rhinelander was hardly challenged much of the way. Phillips' Trinity Pesko took a game off Emma Roberts in the second set at No. 2 singles, and Phillips second doubles team of Sophia DeByl and Megan Schluter won a game in the first set against Alexis Pyrchalla and Madi Losch. Otherwise, it was 6-0 set wins across the board for the Hodags.
That included a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles for Alex Oestreich over Gabrielle Eklund, who was responsible for half of Phillips' match victories in GNC play last year.
"Alex has won four of five matches this week. That's a sign of the progress she is making," Heideman said.
Roberts, Kenedy Van Zile and Jaiden Thiel completed the singles sweep for Rhinelander. Thiel got a spot start for Kaylee Pontell at No. 4 singles Thursday.
"Jaiden is in the middle of a bump," Heideman said. "Her game has shown a big improvement this week. She getting a lot of balls back and covering the court better."
The teams of Haley Seefeldt and Annika Johnson, Pyrchalla and Losch, and Jackie Wells and Savannah Chartier swept doubles for the Hodags.
The win moved Rhinelander to 13-0 on the season and 2-0 in the GNC. The Hodags are currently tied for second in the conference standings with Antigo, two points behind Pacelli, which has played one more match than either Rhinelander or Antigo.
The Hodags are back in action today at the Wausau West Invite. The invite was supposed to be a two-day event but yesterday's play in Wausau was canceled due to rain.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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