August 17, 2022 at 2:16 p.m.
Tennis: Hodags go winless in opening invite
Tennis: Hodags go winless in opening invite
The Hodags did not get any dual wins in the Bay Port Invite, taking eight individual matches collectively in the six duals, but coach Matt Nichols said the two-day event served its purpose.
"We went into this knowing that we were going to be facing tough teams and that was the whole point of coming, see some quality teams right away. It was a good experience playing them," he said. "Top to bottom, we just saw faster balls and more consistent players."
Rhinelander started the event with its closest match of the tournament, falling 4-3 to Appleton North. From there the Hodags were swept by state semifinalist Franklin and fell 6-1 to hosting Bay Port to conclude Monday's play. Tuesday opened with a 5-2 loss to Mukwonago. Rhinelander was then swept by New Richmond before falling to West De Pere 5-2 in the finale.
Though the Hodags return seven of their 10 starters from last year's varsity squad, they have big holes to fill at the Nos. 1 and 2 singles position after graduating Annika Johnson and Kaylee Pontell. Junior Tori Riopel and sophomore Kelsey Winter, the team's Nos. 3 and 4 players last year, got a trial by fire in their opening matches.
Riopel went 2-4 in the tournament. She snagged wins against Appleton North's Ryan Guest and Mukwonago's Ava Pellegrino, both in straight sets. She also forced a set tiebreaker in the match against New Richmond's Izzy Brinkman before falling 7-6, 6-1.
Winter, meanwhile, went 0-6 in the tournament, dropping all six matches in straight sets.
"Both Tori and Kelsey getting bumped up, they're experiencing a different game than they were last year, just quicker pace and more consistent rallies," Nichols said. "I think there was a little bit of shock right away there, but they were building into those positions. Tori, we saw a lot of hustle out of her. She had some putaway shots. We just need some more consistency with those. Kelsey's just really trying to get just overall consistency. I think toward the end we were seeing that where she was developing points a little longer and getting some games."
Senior Paige Oleinik collected the most wins in the tournament. She teamed with junior Kayla Tessman to earn a victory at No. 2 doubles against Appleton North. She played the first two matches of the tournament at No. 2 doubles before bumping back up to No. 1 doubles to play with her teammate from a year ago, senior Taylor Riopel. Oleinik and Taylor Riopel closed Monday's play with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the match against Bay Port and then had a 6-3, 7-6 win over West De Pere.
"They played all last year together and you can really see that," Nichols said. "They already started at a really good place and now we can just build some more intricate strategies. They've got the basic gameplay down so now it's really exciting to develop their game even further.
"Even after the last match, the No. 1 doubles made the comment that they learned by just playing against these other teams and that helped them out developing their own game."
Tessman and sophomore Helena Wisner finished 1-2 together at No. 2 doubles, picking up a win in a match tiebreaker over West De Pere. They lost in a match tiebreaker Monday against Bay Port. Wisner was also part of a competitive loss with Taylor Riopel at No. 1 doubles against Appleton North in which both sets went to tiebreakers.
"Kayla and Helena are just trying to grow a little bit together. Helena was at No. 2 doubles last year but I don't think she saw anyone hit as hard or consistently as this tournament," Nichols noted.
Junior Shayla Coppenger went 1-4 at No. 3 singles, picking up a win against Appleton North's Teagan Tomoda in the opening match. Sophomore Karmen Lopez made her varsity debut at No. 4 singles, dropping all six matches.
Seniors Olivia Jones and Heaven Hawes saw the majority of play at No. 3 doubles, scoring a win in a match tiebreaker when paired together against Mukwonago. Jones and Hawes went 1-1 together. Jones lost a pair of matches with sophomore Evelyn Sawyer while Hawes lost twice paired with fellow senior Amber Bramm.
The Hodags were scheduled to host Lakeland Thursday to open Great Northern Conference play before jumping back into another round of invites. The team is set to host Merrill and Ironwood, Mich. in a triangular today before taking part in a pair of two-day invites at Wausau West next week.
"The two biggest things we need to work on, No. 1 is volleys, work on some volley technique but also just getting more comfortable running to a ball and getting it back at the net. Then the second one is just preparation for the ball," Nichols noted. "I don't think Lakeland's going to hit quite as hard but, regardless of who we play, it's going to be important no matter what shot we hit, they're always ready for that next shot."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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