Hodag tennis drops three matches at Bay Port Invite

A tough schedule out of the gate last year ultimately helped the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team to its late-season rally to the Great Northern Conference title. After Tuesday’s opener, the Hodags hope the same theme will hold true this year.

Rhinelander dropped all three of its matches in the Bay Port Invite. The Hodags were swept 7-0 by Altoona and Mukwonago and fell 6-1 to Appleton North.

The meet was originally scheduled to be held over two days, but rain canceled Monday’s play. Either way, Hodag coach Matt Nichols called it an eye-opening start of the season for his players. 

“We shifted our lineup a little bit each round. I think that helps us get closer to finalizing a lineup moving forward, really figuring out doubles partners,” he said. “It also really exposed weaknesses, and also strengths. It’s nice where we get some competitive matches in and we get to figure out what we need to work on.”

Rhinelander’s lone match win on the day came at No. 3 doubles against Appleton North and featured senior Kelsey Winter competing in her first varsity event since suffering a knee injury in a girls’ basketball game against Wausau East back in January. 

Winter and sophomore teammate Willow Mutter fended off a second-set rally and won in a match tiebreaker over Olivia Caravella and Sophia Guttormsen, 7-5, 2-6, 10-5.

“She was really nervous but really excited,” Nichols said. “This is her first competition in like six months. It was great to see her out there. She played well and it was nice to get a win.”

Senior Tori Riopel went 0-3 on the day at No. 1 singles, dropping all three matches in straight sets. Her closest call came against Mukwonago where she fell to Annie Wierzbicki, 6-4, 6-2.

“Tori, three losses but three tough competitors and especially that last one, that was a hard-fought loss, close games,” Nichols noted.

Overall, Nichols said he was happy with the play of his seniors. Shayla Coppenger bounced between singles and doubles and had a competitive 7-5, 6-4 loss in the No. 3 singles flight against Altoona’s Lidia Bach. She was swept by Mukwonago’s Taylor Davies 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 single and paired with fellow senior Kayla Tessmann at No. 1 doubles against Appleton North, falling to Olivia Gaskill and Rosie Whitlinger, 6-1, 6-2.

Tessmann played the two other matches at No. 1 doubles with junior Karmen Lopez. They lost 6-1, 6-2 to Altoona’s Bella Bauer and Josie Rondestvedt and 6-3, 6-0 to Mukwonago’s Ashley Wilde and Hannah Wernes.

“Shayla, she got a little doubles and singles and those singles matches, the score doesn’t show it, but there were a lot of long rallies and I was really proud of the way she developed points and finished points,” Nichols said. “Then Kayla, she’s just proving to be a really strong doubles player, really good at placing the ball and then finishing points off.”

Junior Dawsyn Barkus played all three matches in the singles lineup, dropping a pair of matches at No. 2 and one at No. 3. Junior Maya Patrick went 0-3 on the day at No. 4 singles. Lopez fell at No. 3 singles against Appleton North.

Juniors Brooke Sisel and Evelyn Sawyer played all three matches together at No. 2 doubles They had a competitive 7-5, 6-2 loss to Mukwonago’s Mary Gulak and Emily Brandt, and a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Appleton North’s Teagon Tomoda and Lila Griffith. 

The Hodags used three different combinations at No. 3 doubles. In addition to Winter and Mutter, the team paired Mutter with sophomore Teagan Turcotte against Altoona, and Turcotte with sophomore Maddie Legrey against Mukwonago.

“I think, across the board, some of those juniors moving up to fill spots, some of the sophomores that came, it was good to see them play and compete, even if the score wasn’t that close,” Nichols said.

It marked the second straight year that the Hodags went winless at the Bay Port Invite. Last year, the team recovered from an 0-6 start at Bay Port to finish 14-12 overall and win the Great Northern Conference. 

“This is a great tournament to kind of jump start the season,” Nichols said. “The girls, they love the competition and they commented how last year we went back to our conference and every match, even if it was competitive, felt that much easier, a little slower pace. Beyond that, they can learn from their opponents, what they doing well, how they’re beating us and now we want to incorporate that into our game.”

Rhinelander returns home today to host a quadrangular meet at the RHS tennis courts. Ashland, Merrill and Ironwood, Mich. are also scheduled to take part. 

“We get to practice a lot of strategies. We’ve worked on trying to incorporate those into game play,” Nichols said. “They’re lower-stakes matches and hopefully we can get some wins and build some confidence back. You can have a good mindset but a win does wonders.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].