April 20, 2022 at 1:12 p.m.
Hodag tennis takes care of Antigo 6-1
Hodag tennis takes care of Antigo 6-1
The Hodags took their show outdoors for the first time Tuesday and defeated long-time rival Antigo, 6-1 at the Elleson Tennis Courts in Antigo.
After playing their first two matches of the season inside the Hodag Dome, Rhinelander got outside in the elements on with Antigo's courts freshly cleared of snow.
"It was a bit weird. Wind, sun, what is that?" Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. "It wasn't too bad, obviously different. It's cold. It's windy and there were some sun, but most other teams haven't been playing outdoors much, either."
The Red Robins put up a fight, especially in the top flights of singles, but the Hodags took care of business to move to 3-0 in the GNC.
"They had strong singles, just very consistent, just got everything back," Nichols said. "We've just got to keep working on our consistency and, more than that, it's just developing strategies for commanding the points. Instead of just getting the ball back, we can work the point and look to finish it."
The lone loss of the day came at No. 1 singles where senior Luke Ring fell to Antigo's Garrett Husnick - the runner-up in the conference singles player of the year race last year behind Rhinelander's Jacob Weddle. Ring dropped the opening set, 6-1. He made the second set more competitive, but fell 7-5.
"(Husnick was) able to keep the ball in play and would rally long enough to make us make the mistake," Nichols said. "In that second set Luke started to get into the swing of things. He was putting balls away, hitting a little better, smarter shots ... Unfortunately for Luke, it didn't work out in his favor. But, the nice thing is we get to see them again."
Sophomore Joey Belanger fended off another Antigo senior, Sam Bretl, 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles flight. Nichols said that match was similar to the Ring-Husnick match, but Belanger was able to come up with a few more winners.
"Both Luke and Joey, they played pushers, essentially, and we just weren't able to put the ball away. We weren't capitalizing on good shots at the net," Nichols said. "Joey, that second set, he just started coming up to the net and was able to finish the point from there. That's what we needed to see. It worked out for Joey."
Sophomore John Currie battled through the longest match of the day. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Currie rallied to defeat Antigo freshman Ezra Santiago 6-7, 7-5, 6-0 match that took nearly three hours to complete.
"Both guys are just very consistent players, so many long rallies - deuce, ad in, ad out," Nichols said. "I think, at the end of the day, John, his endurance, essentially, won him the match - third set 6-0. His consistency and the endurance he has got him the win."
Sophomore Dalton Fritz rounded out the singles lineup for Rhinelander and cruised 6-0, 6-2 over Antigo's Landon Nelson to win in his first career varsity start.
"Dalton, I was really impressed," Nichols said. "He came, first varsity start and I think he played one of the best games as far as commanding the points while still minimizing errors."
Rhinelander swept all three doubles matches in straight sets. Layne Roeser and Elijah Evers were 6-0, 6-1 winners over Calvin Jansen and Nolan Bunnell in the top flight; Leo Losch and Charlie Heck defeated Aaron Converse and Seth Beaber 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2; Eli Lundt and Gavin Denis won the third flight 6-1, 6-3 over Cole Umland and Michael Haggerty.
"I was really impressed with No. 1 doubles and their ability to just make smart shots. They developed the point really well and then they would execute finishing shots. They had tougher opposition than they've seen, but they made easy work of it," Nichols said. "Then 2 and 3 (doubles), I saw some improvements there, just faster serves, smarter shots, and both teams are getting to the net, which is something we've really worked on this year."
Rhinelander (3-0, 3-0 Great Northern) heads to De Pere today and tomorrow for a two-day non-conference invitational. The Hodags hope to get in six matches over the weekend, provided the weather holds out. A chance of rain is in the forecast both days.
"We've got a really competitive schedule. That's what I want to see early on, teams that are going to push us" Nichols said. "We can learn from those matches, see some great tennis, learn from the great tennis."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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