August 23, 2021 at 8:12 a.m.
Hodag netters open GNC play with 6-1 win over Lakeland
Hodag netters open GNC play with 6-1 win over Lakeland
The Hodags swept singles en route to a 6-1 victory over Lakeland at the RHS tennis courts in the first GNC dual meet of the season. All seven matches were decided in straight sets, and the Hodags' lone slip-up came at No. 2 doubles.
"Our goal is to win conference and this is a good start," coach Matt Nichols said. "We earned a lot of points, obviously we had the one loss, but Lakeland was a solid team so I can't be disappointed in that."
Seniors Annika Johnson and Kaylee Pontell both improved to 5-1 on the season as they rolled through their matches in straight sets at the Nos. 1 and 2 singles flights. Johnson was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Lakeland's Maria Gironella while Pontell downed Katie McMahon, 6-0, 6-1.
"Our Nos. 1 and 2 flights, I think they were the most straight forward," Nichols said. "I don't know if walked through is the right word, but they played really well and they didn't face much opposition."
Sophomore Tori Riopel and freshman Kelsey Winter completed the singles sweep for the Hodags with mirrored set scores. Riopel improved to 4-2 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Lakeland's Sarah Barton while Winter defeated Sophia Myshchyshyn 6-2, 7-5.
In doubles, Taylor Riopel and Paige Oleinik earned a 6-2, 6-4 win over Hailey Curtis and Phoebe Wirtz. The win was just the second of the year for the Hodags' top doubles pair, which Nichols said is getting more comfortable with each other every match.
"Over the weekend they were just getting accustomed to playing with each other, and getting more accustomed to the faster pace they hadn't seen on a consistent basis," he said. "They're getting more comfortable hitting harder balls, harder shots and returning all those shots. They just made less errors."
Kayla Tessman and Helena Wisner were 6-4, 7-5 winners over Malina Reynolds and Cassidy Cleveland in the third doubles flight to earn Rhinelander's last victory.
"I think we really started coming on strong at the net. Helena started hitting really well and putting shots away that they hadn't been earlier and just being really aggressive, taking a lot of court away," Nichols said.
Rhinelander's lone loss was a 6-4, 7-5 defeat for Kylee Younker and Shayla Coppenger to Lakeland sisters Juliana and Kristina Ouimette.
The match closed out a busy first week of the season for the Hodags, who went 3-3 overall. Nichols said there is plenty the team can take from the first six matches in terms of areas for improvement. There will not be a lot of practice time, however, as the Hodags have five match days this week.
The Hodags have two, two-day invites in Wausau this week. The first started yesterday and concludes today and the team will be back in Wausau this Friday and Saturday. Rhinelander will also host Medford in a GNC dual on Thursday.
"Practice is kind of limited with our jam-packed schedule of competitions, but each position has something they can improve on and we're looking forward to see that come to fruition in the next couple weeks," Nichols said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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