August 26, 2020 at 11:33 a.m.
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Hodag girls' tennis downs Marshfield Columbus 6-1 as RHS sports returns
Welcome back
Rhinelander took the top three singles matches in convincing fashion and rode a sweep in doubles to a 6-1 victory over Marshfield Columbus Monday in a Great Northern Conference girls' tennis match at the RHS tennis courts.
It was the first varsity game of any kind for RHS since March 6 when the Hodag boys' basketball team was eliminated from the WIAA playoffs in a regional semifinal loss at Merrill. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the spring sports season, nixed an effort to play some spring sports contests in the summer, and pushed back the start of the fall season.
While 6-1 was the final on the courts, the final of 7-1 across campus at the John and Dori Brown Performing Arts Center was perhaps the more monumental result of the day. That was the vote, by the School District of Rhinelander Board of Education, affirming all fall sports will continue playing as scheduled during the fall sports season.
"We were waiting to hear whether that was a go or not," first-year Hodag girls' tennis coach Matt Nichols said. "We got our first match in and now it sounds like we'll get a bunch more. That's exciting news."
Annika Johnson was part of one of the last RHS sporting events before the pandemic, as part of the Hodag girls' basketball team that reached the sectional semifinal round before bowing out to top-ranked Hortonville. On Monday, the junior looked confident beginning her second season at the No. 1 singles spot for the girls' tennis team, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Columbus' Helen Voss.
"It felt amazing, actually. I was a little nervous, but it was an indescribable feeling. Things actually felt a bit normal," Johnson said.
Things weren't quite normal. All the coaches and players wore masks when not actively competing. The pre- and post-match handshakes were replaced by waves of acknowledgement and a small crowd tried to separate as much as possible on the handful of bleachers inside the courts.
Even Johnson said things felt a little foreign at first and it took some time to get accustomed to all the changes and shake off the rust after losing most of the spring and early part of the summer to the pandemic.
"I felt a little bit out of place, or a little bit rusty I should say," she said. "We've had limited practice and different circumstances, but once I got out there, it felt like it was good."
The Hodags returned four varsity starters from last year's conference championship squad and that experience showed in singles on Monday. Individual conference champs Kaylee Pontell and Kat Metropulos each bumped up a flight for the new season and cruised in their debuts. Pontell, a junior, was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Maria Garcia at the No. 2 flight, while Metropulos, a senior, took care of Declyn Tracy 6-0, 6-1 in the third singles flight.
"Annika's hitting really well, Kaylee, Kat. We have great strength there and also depth all the way through," Nichols said. "It was really exciting to see those three and the leadership they offer off the court as well."
Monday was also a good start for the Hodags' rebuilt doubles side, which graduated five of its six starters from a year ago. The lone holdover from last year's doubles, senior Kathryn Borski, was on the No. 1 team. She was paired with sophomore Taylor Riopel, who platooned with Metropulos at No. 4 singles during the early part of last season. They cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Maya Kuhn and Allah Immerfall. Senior Alexis Engelking and junior Kylee Younker were 6-2, 6-1 winners over Denali Volkman and Eva Schiferl at No. 2 doubles. Sophomore Paige Oleinik and freshman Tori Riopel rolled 6-0, 6-0 in the third doubles flight.
"We have a solid six girls. Early on, it was just deciding who would work best with who, whose strength complements someone else's weaknesses," Nichols said. "We ended up with the lineup we had today. It looked like it worked out well. The teams were meshing, hitting good shots. We may play around with that a little more, but it was great to see some solid doubles play."
Rhinelander's lone defeat came in a long, three-set affair at No. 4 singles as freshman Shayla Coppenger fell to Lissy Gruenloh 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.
"She had a really tough-fought, three-set match. It was nice to see her fight strong throughout that whole match," Nichols noted.
In all, the Hodags had four players make their varsity debut on Monday - Coppenger, Younker, Oleinik and Tori Riopel.
"I think they all did well. They came up. They rose to the occasion," Nichols said. "Just like we practiced they were hitting good shots, confident shots. I think this was a great experience moving forward with the rest of the season."
Nichols also made his varsity coaching debut, taking over for long-time coach Bob Heideman who retired in May after leading the Hodags to conference titles in nine of the last 10 seasons. Nichols said he liked what he saw from his squad in its first match.
"We talked about attitude and effort and we got to see that throughout all the matches," he said. "That was really exciting to see, especially early on. We'll practice a couple of different things, some of our weaknesses, but it was exciting to see the effort."
The win moved Rhinelander to 1-0 in what is shaping up to be a modified Great Northern Conference season. The conference superintendents on Aug. 3 decided to do away with the conference championship tournament for this season, due to the pandemic. That puts all the weight of crowning a conference champion on the dual meet portion of the season.
Rhinelander was set to head to Medford yesterday for a dual meet that concluded after deadline. The team returns to action next Thursday at home against Phillips.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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