September 12, 2018 at 1:46 p.m.
Hodag netters reach milestone in win over Pacelli
Hodag netters reach milestone in win over Pacelli
The Hodags swept singles on Tuesday and defeated Pacelli 6-1 in a Great Northern Conference dual at the RHS tennis courts. The win moved Rhinelander to 20-4 overall on the season - the first 20-win season in program history, according to coach Bob Heideman.
"To get to 20 team wins you have to have some solid flights and we have several who have reached the 20-win plateau," Heideman said afterward.
Rhinelander has now exceeded 20 wins with three of its seven flights. Kaylee Pontell moved to 22-2 with a straight-set win over Amanda Lansing at No. 4 singles, Kenedy Van Zile improved her record to 21-3 at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Marissa Stolt, and the No. 3 doubles team of Jackie Wells and Savannah Chartier is now 21-2 after fending off Pacelli's Leah Shibilski and Tessa Rogers, 6-4, 6-4.
"Although not as rare as the 20 team wins, it is still a marker that delineates a mark of achievement," Heideman said, referencing the quartet of players who reached the 20-win plateau for the season.
Alex Oestreich and Emma Roberts completed the singles sweep for Rhinelander on Tuesday. Oestreich was a 6-2, 6-4 winner of Stephanie Vaughan at the top flight while Roberts downed Dani Mengel 6-0, 6-3 at No. 2.
"Alex had a huge win at No. 1 singles," Heideman said. "(She and Vaughan were) two pretty evenly matched players. Alex was down in the second set and put some games together to seal the match. Alex worked very hard to limit her errors."
Alexis Pyrchalla and Madi Losch added a win for Rhinelander at No. 2 doubles, 6-4, 6-3, over the team of Mari Olson and Amanda Cisewski.
"No. 2 doubles put themselves back in the discussion for the No. 1 seed (at the conference tournament) by beating by beating Pacelli," Heideman said. "We've got a triangle to unravel. Pacelli beat Antigo. Antigo beat us. We beat Pacelli."
Rhinelander's lone loss came at No. 1 doubles where Haley Seefeldt and Annika Johnson won the first set, but ran out of steam against Pacelli's Sophie Schroeder and Ella Schroeder in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat.
Rhinelander's lead in the GNC shrunk to eight points over Antigo, which defeated Lakeland 7-0 Tuesday. Antigo has played one fewer match than Rhinelander in conference play.
In relative terms, Rhinelander held serve with Antigo, which defeated Pacelli 6-1 back on Aug. 21.
The Hodags close out GNC play this afternoon at Lakeland.
Note: Heideman noted the play of junior varsity players Jaiden Thiel, Izzy Haverkampf, Lisa White and Kathryn Borski, who all picked up wins Tuesday. They are a combined 76-3 in JV play this fall.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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