October 3, 2018 at 2:04 p.m.
Hodag tennis advances two flights to sectionals
Hodag tennis advances two flights to sectionals
The Hodags, champions of the Great Northern Conference, advanced to sectionals in two flights and placed second in the eight-team meet at the RHS tennis courts.
Rhinelander advanced its No. 1 doubles team of Haley Seefeldt and Annika Johnson with a dramatic three-set victory. No. 4 singles player Kaylee Pontell also advanced to Wednesday's sectional round in Eau Claire.
Prior to the meet, Heideman said the goal for the team was to advance in at least three flights. That didn't happen, but the Hodags improved on their performance at subsectionals from a year ago when they placed fifth and qualified for sectionals in only one flight.
Seefeldt, a senior, and Johnson, a freshman, were seeded third in the subsectional draw and needed to win only one match to advance. That was easier said than done against the sixth-seeded Marshfield tandem of Alexis Means and Mikayla Brueggen, who took the first set 6-3 and then won the first game of the second.
Seefeldt and Johnson rallied to win six straight games to take the second set and responded after getting broken in the seventh game of the third set to win three straight games and take the final set, 6-4.
"I think Annika was pretty steady and I thought the matched hinged when Haley came and played her best tennis," Heideman said, chalking the team's slow start up to nerves. "It was determined by the stretches where she could play her best tennis."
Pontell, another freshman, had a relatively smooth day as the second seed in the fourth singles flight. She defeated D.C. Everest's Taylor Moermond, 6-2, 6-0 and Merrill's Amelia Skoviera 6-3, 6-2 to advance.
"Kaylee getting through, kind of unchallenged basically, that's a neat thing for her," Heideman said.
The Hodags were one win away from qualifying in each of the other five flights. Alex Oestreich was stopped 6-0, 6-0 by third-seeded Savannah Carroll of Wausau East at No. 1 singles, while Emma Roberts faced top-seeded Lilia Teske of Wausau West for the fourth time this season at No. 4 singles, and fell to her 6-0, 6-0.
"No. 2 singles was just tough, deep," Heideman noted. "The neatest thing about (Roberts') match (against Teske) is that she loses the first set, I come out (to talk to her) and she says, 'Coach, watch me serve. I've never served better in my life.' That's the mark of a mature tennis player in that you have an honest assessment of your game as it's going on. Emma could highlight a certain aspect of her game that she was playing well with and that, in general, she was playing well."
Rhinelander was seeded second and in position to advance in two other flights - No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles - but was upset in the second match of the day at both flights. Rhinelander's Kenedy Van Zile was routed by Wausau East's Claire Peterson 6-0, 6-2, while the third doubles tandem of Jackie Wells and Savannah Chartier fell in three sets to Rapids' Ally Abbott and Hannah Jarosch, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
"I know that Rapids changed their lineup. That's not the team we played (in the dual meet). They put their Nos. 3 and 4 (singles) players in to doubles," Heideman noted. "Tough match. Savannah had a great year and I just enjoyed watching that team play so much."
Rhinelander's Alexis Pyrchalla and Madi Losch, the third seed at No. 2 doubles, also fell in the second round Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Marshfield's Emily Reis and Lauren Wiegel.
The subsectional was originally scheduled for Monday but the threat of heavy afternoon rains prompted Rhinelander, as the host school, to push the meet back to Tuesday. Play was delayed by more than an hour Tuesday morning as officials tried to dry the courts following rain Monday afternoon and evening.
That put the three Hodags who qualified for sectionals in a bit of a time crunch.
Play concluded around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Seefeldt, Johnson and Pontell boarded a district-owned vehicle with Heideman at 6 p.m. to head to Eau Claire, to stay overnight in front of Wednesday's sectional round, which was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
"We really don't know who we're playing yet," Heideman said. "We'll hopefully get that tonight. We'll get there early enough that we'll have a good night's rest and be ready for tomorrow."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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