November 4, 2021 at 8:24 a.m.
Annika Johnson earns 3rd straight Hodag girls' tennis MVP award
Annika Johnson earns 3rd straight Hodag girls' tennis MVP award
Johnson was voted by her teammates as the Hodag girls' tennis team's most valuable player for a third consecutive year and received the award during a banquet in the RHS commons.
Johnson, who played at No. 1 singles each of the last three seasons, finished her career with an appearance at the WIAA state tournament. She went 22-5 overall this season and defeated Wausau Newman's Becky Larrain for the Great Northern Conference No. 1 singles title and conference players of the year honors.
"She wrapped up an awesome career at RHS. She's a senior that's been on the high end of varsity lineup and it's going to be a big hole to fill," coach Matt Nichols said. "She fought hard at that really tough position, No. 1 singles, and was the conference player of the year and qualified for state. She earned that award."
Johnson's award was one of eight handed out during the banquet. Freshman Kelsey Winter won two awards while Tori Riopel, Olivia Jones, Shayla Coppenger, Paige Oleinik and Maya Patrick were also honored.
Winter was voted the team's rookie of the year and also won the Ms. Hustle award. She went 15-12 at No. 4 singles this year and came on strong at the end of the season to advance to sectionals as a No. 5 seed, eventually placing third in her flight. Nichols said Winter's two honors went hand-in-hand.
"It's a tribute to what she did," he said. "Lot of hustle with her. She was always on the court, ready to get the ball. Part of that is that's she's a little raw and we changed a couple of things with her preparation and strokes, but regardless, she was always getting to the ball, getting the ball back and that's great for No. 4 singles."
Jones, a junior, won the team's varsity most improved player award. She made four spot starts for the team this year - three of which came during the GNC tournament when the Hodags were down a couple of players due to COVID-19 protocols. Jones was 1-3 overall this season, with all of her matches at No. 3 doubles.
"She improved a lot, not only her strokes but her knowledge of the game, experience and tennis IQ - learning how to play and just getting better at the game,' Nichols said.
Riopel received the Hodag Citizen Award. The sophomore went 20-8 overall at No. 3 singles, winning a conference title and advancing to sectionals. But Nichols said the award went to her dedication to the program off the court.
"She volunteered at some elementary school lessons over the summer, helped teach elementary school students how to play tennis," he said. "She volunteered at the football concession fundraiser, pickleball fundraiser, raked some leaves for (retired RHS tennis) coach (Bob) Heideman and helped to design the GNC tennis shirts and helped organize the senior gifts this year."
Coppenger won the team's Three-Setter Netter Award, for having played the most three-set matches this season. She played in five matches that were tied following two sets, with four different doubles partners, going 0-5 in those matches. Paige Oleinik, part of the Hodags' No. 1 doubles tandem, won the Team Spirit Award and Patrick, a freshman, won the JV most improved award.
The Hodags went 15-6 overall this season, went 7-0 in the GNC and won the conference title for the ninth time in 11 seasons. Rhinelander also placed sixth out of 17 teams in their Division 1 sectional, advancing all four of its singles players past the subsectional round of the WIAA tournament.
"I think we accomplished all of (our) goals," Nichols said. "The team won conference, pushed themselves at practice, competed with each other and it was a great year as far as team chemistry and camaraderie ... Beyond that, everyone improved their skills. We worked hard on footwork. We saw a lot of improvement from beginning to the end."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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