October 31, 2021 at 7:27 a.m.
Team review: RHS girls' tennis
Hodag netters reclaim GNC top spot
Team review: RHS girls' tennis
In the 11 years the Hodags have been a part of the GNC, only twice has someone other than Rhinelander won the conference title. The Hodags have bounced back to win the championship the following year on both occasions.
That was the case this season. A year after finishing second to Antigo in a pandemic-shortened season, the Hodags not only reclaimed their crown, but did so in dominating fashion. Rhinelander went a perfect 7-0 in league play and cruised to a 36-point victory in the standings over runner-up Pacelli.
That was the highlight of a strong season for the Hodags, who went 15-6 overall in dual meets, took second in a subsectional that featured the entire Wisconsin Valley Conference and sent a representative to the WIAA state tournament for the first time since 2015.
"These girls worked hard. They got back the conference championship," coach Matt Nichols said last month following a Division 1 sectional in Eau Claire. "That's huge in itself and, as the cherry on top, we got four flights through to sectionals and they got to play some great tennis against some awesome competition."
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Reclaiming conference
With its singles lineup basically intact from last season, Rhinelander figured to be in position to make a run at the conference title. Sure enough, the Hodags got off to a 4-0 start against what proved to be the bottom four teams in the league.
Down the stretch, Rhinelander faced three consecutive matches against teams who, at the time of the competition, were their nearest pursuer in the GNC. The Hodags passed all three tests with flying colors.
It started with a 6-1 victory over Wausau Newman, which included a tight three-set win for senior Annika Johnson at No. 1 singles over Becky Larrain - foreshadowing a showdown later in the season against the two.
Rhinelander then downed Antigo 5-2, atoning for last year's dual meet defeat that cost the Hodags the conference title. The Hodags went into the dual meet final at Pacelli needing to win only one of the seven flights to take the overall lead into the conference tournament. Rhinelander won six instead to put itself in a commanding position.
The Hodags ended up mathematically clinching the conference title on the first day of what ended up behind a two-day conference tournament as a number of matches on meet day in Antigo were unable to finish due to darkness.
Rhinelander traveled to Wausau two days later to finish up the meet and wound up winning individual conference championships in each of the top three singles flights. That included Johnson, who rallied after dropping the second set to defeat Becky Larrain in a match tiebreaker for the No. 1 singles title and conference player of the year.
Kaylee Pontell and Tori Riopel were champions at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, while the Hodags were the conference runners up at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Strong singles
The Hodags had continuity at singles this year, and its showed with plenty of success. Not only did Johnson, Pontell and Tori Riopel win conference titles, they advanced to sectionals. Freshman Kelsey Winter, Rhinelander's No. 4 singles player much of the year, also made it to sectionals, upsetting the Nos. 1 and 4 seeds in her bracket in the process.
"Four flights through (in a) tough sub," coach Matt Nichols said after all of his singles advanced out of the Wausau East subsectional. "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."
Rhinelander went 79-33 overall in singles this season, led by Johnson at 22-5, followed by Pontell at 22-6. Tori Riopel was 20-8 and Winter went 15-12.
Mixed up doubles
The Hodags did not nearly have the same continuity on in doubles where they trotted out 17 different playing combinations this season, between dealing with scratches due to health concerns and trying to find the right chemistry between playing partners.
The team seemed to hit on a winning formula toward the end of the year. Taylor Riopel, a holdover from last year's No. 1 doubles tandem, played with Paige Oleinik much of the season. The two went 8-15 overall, but were 6-2 in the GNC. The team's two losses in conference play came to reigning conference doubles players of the year Ella Schroeder and Marissa Stolt from Pacelli.
Kylee Younker teamed with freshman Helena Wisner down the stretch as the two went 5-4 while sophomores Shayla Coppenger and Kayla Tessman went 5-2 at No. 3 doubles.
Younker/Wisner, Coppenger/Tessman and Tessman/Wisner (5-3) were the only three combinations who played more than two matches together and finished with a record above .500. Overall, Rhinelander went 33-41 in doubles play this year.
State sendoff
After a little bit of anxious waiting, Johnson was able to finish her high school career on the state's biggest stage, earning a special qualifier spot in the to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.
She was Rhinelander's first state qualifier since 2015. Though she lost to Wausau West's Quin Babiarz in the first round, Nichols said it was a nice way for Johnson to finish her high school tennis career.
"I'd say a lot of good rallies. Annika played well. I think she just missed some of the finishing shots that we've seen her hit before in other games," he said afterward. "But the rallies were going well. The second set, it looked like she choked up a little bit, but at the end she came back. She got a game and was playing well. We just kind of ran out of time there.
"It's just a cool atmosphere. You're playing where UW-Madison plays. You have all the top girls in the state. To finish down there is something special.
What's next
After replacing half of its 2020 starting lineup due to graduation, the Hodags have to replace only three starters going into next season. However, this year's graduations will leave a significant void and most of the returning players will need to step into larger roles next season.
That's especially true in singles where, in Johnson and Pontell, the team graduates its Nos. 1 and 2 singles players from each of the last three seasons.
"Both of them have brought a lot of consistency and a lot of talent," Nichols said. "Fundamentally, they have some great strokes. It's been huge for developing players to watch them play and use them as examples on the court. They've found a lot of success. They've put in a lot of time. They came to summer tennis. Annika was out serving most of the summer. It helps mold the younger players ... All that experience is going to be missed. The younger players, I don't think they realize it, but they're going to miss those two and every thing they brought to the team."
That will likely mean bigger roles for Tori Riopel and Winter next year as the two remaining holdovers from the singles lineup, unless the Hodags decide to shift some players over from doubles. Younker is the lone starter graduating from the doubles side of the ledger, though the team will also graduate Mabel Spencer and Claira Bramm, who saw spot starts this year.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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