April 24, 2023 at 9:16 a.m.
Hodag tennis splits matches in De Pere
The Hodags went an even 3-3 in those matches. Rhinelander opened play with three matches on Friday. The Hodags beat West De Pere 6-1, lost to De Pere 5-2 and to Kimberly 4-3. Saturday's play featured a 6-1 win over Ashwaubenon, a 5-2 victory over Appleton North and a 6-1, loss to Mukwonago.
Hodag coach Matt Nichols said the tests were exactly what his team needed near the halfway point of the season.
"The whole purpose is to get quality matches against quality opponents and then learn from them, especially early on. In talking to the guys, reflecting and just watching, we've done just that," he said. "We got good matches and we learned from our opponents."
Doubles, especially on Friday, was a strong point for the team. The Hodags went 8-1 in doubles play on Friday and were 14-4 overall for the tournament.
"It helps when they're all returning and they've all played together and they played really well," Nichols said.
Rhinelander's top pair of Joey Belanger and Layne Roeser went 4-1 together during the tournament, with their lone loss coming against Mukwonago. They knocked off De Pere's top tandem of Sam Cumicek and Kegan McDonough in a match tiebreaker 6-3, 2-6, 10-5 and won the other three matches in straight sets.
"Our doubles, especially at the No. 1 spot, they're just so smart about where they place the ball and how they develop the point," Nichols said. "When they have the opportunity, they put it away. We got a lot of complements from other coaches on them. They're playing really well, especially early on."
Roeser and Belanger's loss to Mukwonago's Nate Christensen and Isaac Baar was their first of the season. They currently sit 9-1 on the year. While hopeful of getting into the WIAA state tournament the direct way by winning at least one match at sectionals, the weekend's wins may come in handy if they need to rely on a special qualifier to advance.
"If it comes to that, definitely the results we got are going to help," Nichols said. "That's another big piece of it. We get to play teams from other sections and if those teams go to state, that's a big case for us to get a special (qualifier) if it were to come to that. They got some big wins and I'm proud of them for that."
Leo Losch and Charlie Heck went 4-2 together over the weekend. They played the majority of their matches at No. 2 doubles, but moved to No. 1 while Belanger took a break during the Ashwaubenon match and fell in a tight match against Owen Fonder and Luke Spika 7-6 (5), 4-6, 10-5.
Eli Lundt and Dawson Pontell continued to play together, going 5-1 over the weekend, which included a 6-0, 6-0 win in their lone match at No. 2 doubles against Ashwaubenon. Their lone loss came in a match tiebreaker at No. 3 doubles against Mukwonago, where they fell to Tripp Stang and Cole Kusick 3-6, 7-6 (2), 10-2.
Lundt played with Pontell the majority of last season. Pontell started the year at No. 3 singles, but the two are now 7-1 together since being reunited at the Wausau West Invite April 14.
"I'm exited about the switch," Nichols said. "I think Dawson looks a lot more comfortable at doubles and they both played together already, so it was an easy move. Obviously, there's some work (to do), but it's an awesome start to build on. (Going) 5-1 at this tourney is huge."
Dalton Fritz went 2-4 on the weekend at No. 1 singles with his wins coming Saturday against Appleton North and Ashwaubenon. John Currie was 3-3 at No. 2 singles, with wins against West De Pere, Appleton North and Ashwaubenon. Nichols called the matches learning opportunities as the two continue to get accustomed to playing in the top singles flights.
"Some of the things you talk about at practice and it's kind of hard to think (through) or visualize or even see what that might look like in a game," he said. "When you see the best people play who do those things consistently and very well, it's a good teacher and there's immediate feedback. If you hit a bad shot it's going to get put away. I think our singles, especially at the top, saw that and reflected on it. Just in those six matches these last two days they've grown a lot in doing what their opponents are doing, pushing points longer and developing points more strategically."
Nick Lesch went 1-3 on the weekend at No. 3 singles. Gavin Denis played up at that flight against Appleton North, one of his four losses in a 2-4 weekend mainly playing at the No. 4 position. Roeser played No. 3 singles against Ashwaubenon, picking up a 6-2, 6-0 win. The Hodags used Saturday matches to mix up their lineup a bit. Junior Zacha King got a start at No. 4 singles against Appleton North, falling in a match tiebreaker 6-1, 5-7, 10-3. Sophomore Karter Massey played at No. 3 doubles with Lesch against Ashwaubenon as the two rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
"We want people to come in with experience and knowledge, and learn from their teammates and opponents," Nichols said. "Bringing some sophomores and juniors down, that varsity reserve, it's going to be great for their development and for the team's development as well."
Rhinelander (7-4, 2-0 Great Northern) enters a busy week of play that will see it knock out a third of the GNC schedule in four days. The stretch began Monday at Medford in the makeup of a match that snowed out last Tuesday. Rhinelander heads to Lakeland this afternoon and to Antigo on Thursday before concluding the week with a two-day invite in Wausau Friday and Saturday.
"It's going to be go, go, go Monday through Saturday. We get that one day on Wednesday as a break. That's not a lot of time, especially following a tournament like this where we have so much to talk about," Nichols said. "We go straight to another game. That's tough but our conference is not quite as strong as the (Wisconsin) Valley schools or the Fox Valley schools. It will be nice to work on some stuff in gameplay in lower stakes matches."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.