October 7, 2021 at 7:54 a.m.
Hodag tennis advanced four to sectionals
Hodag tennis advanced four to sectionals
Rhinelander went 8-3 on Monday, advanced four flights through to sectionals and placed second in a nine-team WIAA Division 1 subsectional meet in Wausau that was basically a reprise of the WVC Meet, plus Rhinelander and fellow Great Northern Conference member Lakeland.
All four of the Hodags' singles players advanced, with Annika Johnson, Kaylee Pontell, Tori Riopel and Kelsey Winter making it to the sectional round, which was held in Eau Claire on Wednesday and concluded after deadline for today's edition (Note: See Wednesday's RHS sports recap for results). The Hodags, champions of the GNC, finished only behind WVC-champion Wausau West in the team scores.
It marked the second straight year that Rhinelander sent all four of its singles players to the second round of the WIAA tournament series.
"Four flights through (in a) tough sub," coach Matt Nichols said. "We got four through last year, although SPASH wasn't there. SPASH was here (this year) and we had some nice wins to earn all those qualifiers through. All and all, a great day."
Senior Annika Johnson, who only needed to win one match at the No. 1 singles flight to advance, did so with ease, defeating Wisconsin Rapids' Corrine Sazama, 6-0, 6-0.
"That wasn't a shocker. I guess, right now, it's all eyes on sectionals and how she does there. That will be her ticket to state," Nichols said.
Johnson (22-4) fell to Hudson's Lily Holmberg, 6-3, 6-4, in the sectional quarterfinals Wednesday morning for an automatic berth into the WIAA state tournament. Johnson had defeated Holmberg in straight sets earlier this year.
Not that it was smooth sailing for all of the Hodags. Pontell (22-4) rallied after dropping the opening set of her No. 2 singles semifinal against Stevens Point's Annika Borgnes 6-0 to win in three sets to advance to sectionals for the third time in her four-year career.
Pontell, who had defeated Borgnes 6-0, 6-1 earlier in the season, seemed rattled in the first set as the SPASH sophomore came up with winner after winner down the line and to the corners. Pontell steadied herself to edge away to a 6-4 win in the second set and then reeled off four straight games down the stretch to take the third set 6-2.
"She just looked a little shaky. We talked about how anything can happen and that was one of those things where the three-seed was coming up, playing strong and I don't think Kaylee was expecting that," Nichols said. "The biggest thing was just starting to get our strokes back and being more consistent. We were going for shots that we just weren't hitting. Kaylee, a huge strength is just hitting high and deep, very consistent shots. Once she started doing that, she was able to get some winners after the point developed and she was able to force some errors just by keeping the rally going."
Nichols said he was proud of Pontell's ability to dig deep, despite not playing her best tennis, to find a way to win and extend her high school career.
"I told her we might not have had the best strokes, but that's a great preparation for sectionals, just that mental game, being able to battle back," he said. "She hasn't been pushed much this year. That's huge for her going into sectionals, having that under her belt knowing she can push through, even if she's behind."
The biggest upset of the day came at No. 4 singles where Winter, a freshman, knocked off two higher-seeded players to advance.
Winter (14-11) started the day by avenging a loss to Lakeland's Sophia Myshchyshyn at conference, defeating her 6-2, 6-4. Winter then drew top-seeded Abby Names and handed the Wausau West junior her first loss of the year in singles play, defeating her 6-2, 7-5.
"Kelsey, she went in with the five-seed and she had a nice win over a girl she lost to at conference," Nichols noted. "We worked a lot on preparation and just changing her stroke a little bit. That seemed to help her out a lot. She got the win there and went on to upset the one-seed who, unfortunately, was sick but, nonetheless, she's headed to sectionals."
Tori Riopel, a sophomore, had a pair of straight set victories, including a 6-3, 6-2 win over third-seeded Sonia Dissanayaka of Marshfield, that saw her through to sectionals for a second straight year.
"We had the two seed so it was expected that she make it, not saying that it was easy," Nichols said. "She definitely fought hard against the Marshfield girl in the second round. But she's played hard. She's improved a lot this season, so it was nice to get the win there, moving on to sectionals."
Rhinelander's top doubles pair of Taylor Riopel and Paige Oleinik lost 6-1, 6-1 to Wausau West's Anika Eder and Katie Meyer with a trip to sectionals on the line. Rhinelander's No. 3 doubles team was also stopped a step short of the sectional meet. After beating Wausau East's Maggie Winter and Elizabeth Young in the quarterfinals, Kayla Tessman and Shayla Coppenger fell to Wausau West's Lilly Wittwer and Kaydee Rennie 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals.
At No. 2 doubles, Rhinelander senior Kylee Younker and freshman Helena Wisner lost to Lakeland sisters Julianna and Kristina Ouimette, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinal round.
"I think top to bottom, none of them should be disappointed with how they played," Nichols said. "They got beat by good teams and that happens."
Should any Hodags advance, the WIAA state individual tennis tournament will take place Oct. 14-16 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the UW-Madison campus. Johnson needed to be one of the four semifinalists at the No. 1 singles flight Wednesday to earn an automatic berth while Pontell needed to win the No. 2 singles bracket.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.