September 28, 2022 at 12:14 p.m.
Hodag tennis drops subsectional tune-up to Wisconsin Rapids
Hodag tennis drops subsectional tune-up to Wisconsin Rapids
The Raiders, who will be back in Rhinelander on Monday for a WIAA Division 1 subsectional, altered their lineup against the Hodags and scored most of their wins in the lower flights.
"I know Rapids really changed their lineup around. It was an interesting lineup," Hodag coach Matt Nichols. "There were a few close matches. We had a couple of tiebreaks. We had a tiebreak with No. 1 doubles there too, unfortunately they just didn't go in our favor."
Tuesday's matches were split between the RHS tennis courts and the Hodag Dome due to cold, windy, overcast conditions. The Raiders got what proved to be the decisive points from their Nos. 1 and 3 doubles teams.
After winning the first set, Rhinelander eventually dropped a match tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles with Brooke Sisel and Evelyn Sawyer falling to Sawyer Holberg and Annabelle Ross 3-6, 6-4, 12-10. No. 1 doubles was the last match to finish as Taylor Riopel and Helena Wisner were unable to force a decisive third set for the Hodags, falling to Teagann Bobdiolo and Jenna Wentland in a second-set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
"Doubles, we were struggling to close at the net, and that's why we had a couple of losses there," Nichols said.
Rhinelander cruised in the top two singles flights. Tori Riopel was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Abbey Gust at No. 1 while Kelsey Winter defeated Aleeya Leach 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2.
"With No. 1 singles it didn't seem like there was too much opposition," Nichols noted. "The game or two we lost, we were just making errors, but Tori moved well on the court, moved the ball well on the court and just had some really nice, deep shots to keep her opponent from attacking. I didn't see really much of Kelsey, but it sounded like a similar thing where there wasn't much opposition from the opponent, it was more on Kelsey's end whether she was going to win or lose the point."
Rhinelander's other victory came at No. 2 doubles where Paige Oleinik and Kayla Tessman overcame a slow start to reel off 12 straight games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Aleigh Weight and Chloe Trezbiatowski.
"They just stared to really close well at the net and prepare for the ball a little better," Nichols said. "We were getting caught too close to the ball near the baseline, so it was bouncing at our feet. But we adjusted to that and we were fine."
Rapids trotted out a unique lineup, and one that likely won't do much to help in the seeding process for Monday's subsectional. Corinne Sazama, who had played No. 1 singles all year for the Raiders according to records listed on Tennis Reporting, was dropped to No. 4 singles Tuesday where she beat Dawsyn Barkus 6-2, 6-2. Gust, who typically played No. 1 doubles, and Wentland, Rapids' No. 2 singles player much of the year, were in different roles while Rapids moved Leach from its No. 2 doubles team to No. 2 singles and moved Weight from No. 4 singles to No. 2 doubles.
The only constants were Holberg and Ross at No. 3 doubles, and Hayley Jensen, who earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Shayla Coppenger at No. 3 singles.
"I think it will really depend on who they put in for their sub team," Nichols said of how much Tuesday's loss will affect Rhinelander's subsectional seeding. "If they change it back to what I'd think of as their standard lineup, I don't know how much it will affect it, because it will be different girls, but you never know how the coaches are going to feel and vote."
Monday's subsectional will include all seven Wisconsin Valley Conference schools, plus Rhinelander and Lakeland from the Great Northern Conference. The seeds in each flight will be determined in a coaches meeting Sunday evening.
Conjecture over subsectional seeding was still a bit premature on Tuesday, considering that both the GNC and the WVC had yet to hold their conference tournaments. Both events were set for Thursday.
"I wish we would have gotten maybe one or two more later-season matches with Valley teams just because we changed our lineup a little bit on the doubles side, and I know they did to," Nichols said. "It would be nice to have some (more) comparables, but I think we've been playing well. I think, in at least a couple of positions we do have some good comparables and we should be vying for some top four seeds."
Subsectional play begins at 10 a.m. Monday at the RHS tennis courts.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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