September 30, 2021 at 8:03 a.m.
Johnson wins player of the year as Hodags close out GNC
Johnson wins player of the year as Hodags close out GNC
Johnson took a little extra time after dropping the second set and came back strong as she defeated Wausau Newman's Becky Larrain 10-2 in a match tiebreaker to win the conference's No. 1 singles title, and player of the year honors in the process, as the GNC tournament concluded Monday at Oak Island Park in Wausau.
Johnson and Kaylee Pontell ended up conference champions at Nos. 1 and 2 singles in two of the four matches that could not be completed prior to darkness Saturday in Antigo. The Hodags dropped the championship matches at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Johnson took the first set against Larrain 6-4, and was up 2-0 in the second before the Newman senior rattled off six straight games to seize momentum and push the match to a 10-point tiebreaker.
Johnson and Hodag coach Matt Nichols had a long conversation between sets and left the court briefly so Johnson could grab a drink. The pep talk seemed to work.
"He just wanted to reassure me that everything was fine and, as long as I kept playing my game, things would turn out the way I wanted to. I just had to keep my head up," Johnson said. "Our goal always is to play to win, not to lose, so that's what I was thinking about the whole last 10-point tiebreaker."
Johnson started fast, reeling off the first four points of the tiebreaker before a double fault made it 4-1. Johnson then hit a hard passing shot that Larrain could not keep in play, followed by two unforced errors by Larrain before Johnson poached a point at the net to make it 8-1. Three points later, Johnson hit a hard winner to the back line to secure the match.
"She came back mentally there and it showed," Nichols said. "I said we have to command the points. Becky did a really nice job of that in the second set and Annika started controlling the game that tiebreak and she got the win."
The win moved Johnson to 22-3 on the season, a big jump from last year's 7-3 campaign in which she lost to Larrain in straight sets.
"At this point last year I definitely don't think I had the confidence I do now," Johnson said. "That was a big part of my game that I was lacking. Now I able to put away some shots and my serve is probably the biggest thing that has improved since then.
"If I'm being quite honest, I honestly think Becky is probably a more-skilled player but, every match I play, my biggest goal is to outwork my opponent. I think I did that this match too."
Pontell struggled early Monday in her championship match against Pacelli freshman Lauren Loesl, losing serve in the opening game. She finally got the break point back in the sixth game, and then ran off nine straight games after that to win the match 6-3, 6-0.
"It was a little bit rough at first but, once I got back into the swing of things, it started to work out a bit better," Pontell said. "I think I just needed to focus and make sure I had everything under control. Once I did, it worked out a lot better."
Added Nichols, "That Pacelli player is very solid. You look at her strokes, her footwork and it's all fundamentally there. Both are really good players. They pushed each other hard and I think Kaylee just started to get a little more consistent and she had some nice finishing shots there. That kind of turned it around for her."
Pontell moved to 21-4 on the season, including a pair of straight set wins over Loesl. The Hodag senior finished her career 35-0 against GNC opponents.
Rhinelander's doubles squads could not keep up with Pacelli on Monday. Taylor Riopel and Paige Oleinik fell behind early to reigning No. 1 doubles champions Ella Schroeder and Marissa Stolt in a 6-1, 6-2 loss. Kylee Younker and Helena Wisner fell to Amelia Jacoby and Julia Storch 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.
Younker and Wisner beat Pacelli during the regular season, but Storch did not play in that match for the Cardinals.
"Pacelli, they're very well-disciplined in doubles," Nichols said. "We knew that coming in, it was going to be tough and we just wanted to play our best game possible, and I think we did that."
Rhinelander mathematically had clinched the GNC tournament and overall titles prior to Monday's play. The Hodags finished with 30 points in the tournament, while Pacelli and Newman tied for second with 16 points. Rhinelander finished with 114 points overall in the conference season, beating Pacelli by 38 points for the team's ninth conference title in 11 years.
"You breathe a sigh of relief almost. We got all the matches in," Nichols said. "We had some great wins, won as a team. It brings that closure and we can start focusing on the road ahead with subs and sectionals and, hopefully, state in the future."
The road to the state meet begins this coming Monday in a WIAA Division 1 subsectional hosted by Wausau East and Wausau West. The nine-team meet will include Rhinelander, Lakeland and all seven Wisconsin Valley Conference schools. Collectively, Rhinelander went 6-3 in dual meets against the subsectional field. Two of those losses were to Wausau West, which was in a commanding position to secure the WVC crown on Thursday.
Nichols said the WVC meet, which concluded after deadline, may have some bearing on how the Valley schools fall in line and where Rhinelander may slot in during the seeding meeting, but the head-to-head matchups should have the Hodags in the top half the of draw, especially in singles.
"I think we have a pretty good idea of where we're going to fall in with all the Valley schools," he said. "We played everyone in the sub, so as long as those teams put in who we played, I think it should be pretty straight forward."
One advantage Rhinelander will have is the ability to practice all week leading up to subsectionals, whereas the Valley Conference schools had a dual meet Tuesday on their conference tournament Thursday.
"We all have to use this week to our advantage, get a lot of good practice in and work really hard to come ready to play on Monday," Johnson said.
"At this point, we've worked on a lot of different strategies. I think we're just going to continue with those and fine-tune them," Nichols added. "With Annika, I want to work on hitting balls as they're bouncing up, so she can stay on the court a little more and stay in the point, rather than getting pushed off."
The top four in the No. 1 singles and doubles flights, and the top two in the other five flights at subsectionals will advance to next Wednesday's sectional round in Eau Claire.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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