September 20, 2019 at 1:48 p.m.
Hodag tennis inches closer to GNC title with sweep of Lakeland
Hodag tennis inches closer to GNC title with sweep of Lakeland
The Hodags won all seven matches in straight sets Thursday as they scored maximum conference points again with a 7-0 victory over Lakeland at the RHS tennis courts. That result, coupled with Medford taking a match from second-place Antigo in a 6-1 loss Thursday, increased Rhinelander's lead over the Red Robins to 12 points with one conference dual remaining for both teams.
That math was not lost on Rhinelander coach Bob Heideman, who has kept his team informed of how the conference race is shaping up and how the Hodags can help their own cause ahead of the GNC tournament next Saturday in Rhinelander.
"I've put the pressure on the team by telling them exactly what they need to do to win conference and they have taken up the challenge well," he said.
The Hodags dominated singles play, not dropping a second-set game in any of the four singles matches.
Annika Johnson was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Kiah Gauthier in the top flight and Kenedy Van Zile downed Lorraine Hammes 6-3, 6-0. Kaylee Pontell and Kat Metropulos earned 6-0, 6-0 wins over at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
"Kaylee reached a milestone with her 20th win of the season," Heideman noted. "At 20-3 she leads the team in wins. She consistently gets a lot of balls back. If we had a statistic on most balls hit per point, she'd be leading in that, too.
"Annika has quietly carved out a 13-10 record. She ran (Gauthier) side to side and up and back. It wore her down."
The first two flights of doubles went smoothly for the Hodags as well.
Alex Oestreich and Jackie Wells were 6-1, 6-2 winners of Hayley Fieck and Vivian Trapp in the first flight, while Lisa White and Kathryn Borski took the second flight over Anna Maulson and Britta Salquist 6-2, 6-2.
"Lisa and Kathryn picked their consistency up a notch. I really like their energy on the court," Heideman said. "Jackie and Alex were both hitting the ball harder, especially with their serves."
The third doubles team of Izzy Haverkampf and Jaiden Thiel picked up the final victory of the match, though they made it interesting with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Phoebe Wirtz and Brenna Fricke.
"Izzy and Jaiden continue to win but it seems always with a little drama," Heideman said. "They let teams back in sets. To date, they have always worked their way out (of trouble)."
The win put Rhinelander in position to sew up first place in the GNC standings heading into the conference meet even without winning the dual Friday against Wausau Newman. The Hodags entered that match needing to take only two of the seven flights to be assured of at least a two-point lead over Antigo heading into the conference tournament. Each additional win over Newman would pad Rhinelander's advantage by two additional points.
Antigo rounds out conference dual play at home against Pacelli on Monday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.