April 11, 2022 at 8:43 a.m.
Hodag tennis sweeps Lakeland in opener
Hodag tennis sweeps Lakeland in opener
On Thursday it was another Great Northern Conference match and another convincing victory.
The Hodags won all seven flights in straight sets as they swept Lakeland in the season-opener in the Hodag Dome.
Despite returning only five starters from last year's squad - and with only three of those starters playing in the same flights as they did last year - the Hodags won their 40th consecutive GNC dual meet and started their quest toward an eighth straight conference title.
"Pretty good depth top to bottom still," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said afterward. "Looking at the doubles lineup, that could see the most movement. We really want to focus on consistency right away in the beginning of the season and then we're going to grow from there."
Senior Luke Ring emerged from a three-way battle to take over the No. 1 singles spot vacated by the graduation of two-time conference singles player of the year Jacob Weddle. After a slow start Thursday, Ring got by Lakeland's Jesús Hoyos, an exchange student from Mexico, 6-4, 6-0.
"I saw Luke get pushed a little bit, which was awesome. It was nice to have good competition right in the GNC," Nichols said. "He just looked nervous, missed some shots he would normally hit and was just trying to get in a groove. Once he did, you could see it just started all clicking. All his ducks got in a row and he was fine from there."
Ring edged his former doubles teammate, senior Elijah Evers, and sophomore Joey Belanger for the No. 1 spot in the lineup through a series of challenge matches last week. Belanger reprised his role at No. 2 singles and downed freshman Dominic Gironella, 6-3, 6-1. Evers returned to No. 1 doubles where he teamed with the only other holdover from last year's doubles lineup, junior Layne Roeser, to roll over Lakeland's Axle Jacobs and Isaac Olson, 6-0, 6-0.
"They had some good, smart shots. Angles are huge and we worked on that a lot. It's nice to see both of them have experience," Nichols said of the Evers-Roeser pairing. "They've had tough matches in their past. I think the two of them together are going to really grow. The more they play together, the more they're going to get in sync."
Junior Leo Losch, back in the No. 3 spot in the singles lineup, downed Carson Tegland 6-0, 6-0 on Thursday while sophomore John Currie made his varsity debut, and rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jack Stepee in the No. 4 flight.
"Lot of consistency and that's what we wanted," Nichols said of Currie's play. "There were some shots that I think normally he'd put a little more on, but he just kept the ball in play. He has a big serve. That's going to be huge there. I don't think many No. 4 singles are used to that. He looked very relaxed out there, and that's huge for his first varsity start."
Charlie Heck, a junior who made a handful of starts last year as a sophomore, was joined by sophomore Dawson Pontell at No. 2 doubles on Thursday while the Hodags sported another junior/sophomore tandem with Eli Lundt and Gavin Denis at No. 3 doubles. Both pairings cruised to love-and-love victories.
Nichols said while there still may be some tinkering with the doubles lineup, so far, so good.
"We had a group that was all vying for those spots," Nichols said. "They both played well. It's hard to really say how well they clicked. There just wasn't much opposition in those flights, but they were solid and there was good movement on the court."
Though Rhinelander had a bye in the first round of conference dual meet play, the Hodags and T-Birds were the first GNC schools to complete a match after snow and rain nixed all of last Tuesday's matches. The weather was not much better on Thursday, but none of that mattered inside the climate-controlled confines of the Hodag Dome.
"It's just great to be able to play," Nichols said. "I know looking at some of the other schools in the conference, they had some scheduled matches they weren't able to (play), so we're just thankful to have the dome, be able to do that and start getting some games in. Now we can keep growing at practice, see our strengths and weaknesses, prepare for the next match and be even better next time."
The Hodags continued their string of four straight conference matches to begin the season Monday at home against Pacelli in a match that concluded after deadline. Rhinelander is scheduled to travel to last year's GNC runner-up, Medford, on Thursday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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