May 18, 2022 at 1:15 p.m.
Hodag tennis closes out dual meet season with wins over Shawano, Wausau West
Hodag tennis closes out dual meet season with wins over Shawano, Wausau West
The Hodags knocked off two teams in their subsectional, Shawano and Wausau West, by matching 7-0 scores in a triangular at the RHS tennis courts. The Hodags completed dual meet play 15-4 overall and now have wins over four of the teams it will see this coming Monday when they host a WIAA Division 1 subsectional.
"Two 7-0 victories is nice going into that, especially when we think about seeds," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. "West had a wonky lineup but, with Shawano, it looked like their standard lineup, so it was nice to get wins across the board and it's another school we have comparables when we look at some of the other subsectional teams."
Rhinelander cruised against the Hawks, winning all seven flight in straight sets. Luke Ring, Elijah Evers, Dalton Fritz and Nicholas Lesch swept singles play. Fritz and Lesch bumped up to the Nos. 3 and 4 flights with John Currie unavailable for Monday's play.
"We saw Nick get another varsity start and he's really worked hard over last summer and this winter. It was nice to see all his strokes come to fruition and get a varsity win," Nichols noted.
In doubles, the pairings of Joey Belanger/Layne Roeser, Leo Losch/Charlie Heck and Eli Lundt/Dawson Pontell all cruised to victory.
It was a similar story against Wausau West. Evers was pushed by Ethan Steinbach at No. 2 singles, but won a first set tiebreaker and went on to take a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory. Ring and Fritz won handily in straight sets while Lesch won unopposed at No. 4 singles.
"Elijah was hitting more consistent and it looks like he's a little more comfortable, getting into the groove of singles versus doubles, which he played earlier this year," Nichols said. "Dalton was really strong. Luke was playing strong, finishing a lot of shots, developing a lot of points."
Rhinelander combined to drop a total of eight games in the three doubles matches against the Warriors.
"I think our doubles are really starting to click, especially No. 2 doubles, they had a lot of very nice angled shots from the net," Nichols noted. "No. 1 doubles, they've worked really on two up, and that was nice to see, both of them coming to the net and finishing points together as a unit. They're really starting to play well together and their chemistry is just growing each and every match."
The Hodags were set to take part in the GNC tournament in Antigo on Thursday and entered the tournament with a 32-point lead in the conference standings over Antigo, which defeated Medford 5-2 on Monday. Play concluded after press time for today's edition as the Hodags needed only 12 points to lock up their seventh straight GNC title.
Rhinelander will host Bay Port, D.C. Everest, Green Bay West, Pulaski, Shawano, Wausau East and Wausau West in an eight-team subsectional Monday at the RHS tennis courts. Prior to the start of the season, Nichols said one of the team goals was to repeat last year's postseason performance and advance all seven flights through to next Wednesday's sectional round at Wausau West.
With four entries advancing to sectionals out of the No. 1 flights and two entries advancing out of the rest, Nichols said, the Hodags have done as much as they can to put themselves in position for favorable draws despite being the lone GNC team in the field.
"I think our lower flights are vying for the No. 1 spot - No. 4 singles, No. 2 doubles, No. 3 doubles," he said. "No. 3 singles, we're looking at a top two. No. 1 singles, we'll probably sit behind Everest at that flight, probably getting the two seed. No. 2 singles, it really depends on how Thursday goes, but we're probably going to get a lower one there and then No. 1 doubles, there's solid teams there and it's probably going to come to a lot of debate and votes and we'll just see how it goes but, hopefully, get the No. 1 seed there.
"Seeds are great but, at the end of the day, it's who plays the best that day. We'll work for the seeds that we deserve but then it's up to the boys to finish the matches and move on. I'm looking forward to it. I think today really brought some more drive and energy into it, looking at some of these (subsectional) teams and making the dream more of a reality."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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