Hodag tennis wins all three matches at home quad

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team picked up its first three wins of the season on Friday, easily cruising past Ironwood, Mich., Merrill and Ashland to win its home quadrangular meet at the RHS tennis courts.

The Hodags started the day with a 6-1 win over Ironwood and then swept Merrill and Ashland 7-0. 

After starting the season 0-3 against some tough competition last Tuesday at the Bay Port Invite, Hodag coach Matt Nichols said it was nice to get into the win column.

“It’s great to get those early season matches, great to get the wins, build their confidence up and just get more experience playing and a lot of coaching as we go through the early season here,” he said. 

    Rhinelander’s Kayla Tessmann plays a point at the net while teammate Karmen Lopez looks on during a girls’ tennis match against Ironwood, Mich. at the RHS tennis courts Friday, Aug. 18. Tessmann went 2-1 together at No. 1 doubles on Friday as the Hodags won all three matches in their home quadrangular. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Rhinelander won virtually all the matches convincingly, with one exception. The No. 1 doubles team of senior Kayla Tessmann and junior Karmen Lopez were pushed in all three of their rounds. Two of their matches went to match tiebreakers as they went 2-1 on the day. 

Tessmann and Lopez dropped the first of those tiebreakers as Ironwood’s Sarah Larson and Gio Lauzon rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 10-3 victory. After defeating Merrill’s Emily Frahm and Chloe Belant 6-3, 6-4, Tessmann and Lopez dropped their first set against Ashland’s Ali Vittone and Makayla Bigo 1-6 before rallying to take the second set 6-1 and force a match tiebreaker. 

Tessmann and Lopez led most of the way in the tiebreaker, but could not convert on match point up 9-8. They then fended off a match point, down 10-9, before ultimately taking the tiebreaker, 13-11.

“No. 1 doubles was definitely the most competitive flight. I think it was just getting a little more chemistry between the two because they are fairly new partners,” Nichols said. “It was a great day for them. We talked about that loss. It was just great experience early on through that match tiebreak. Any time you get to so that, it’s just a great test of your mental game and your drive. They got a nice win over Ashland. That’s a solid team and it’s great to end that tourney with that win.”

The Hodags were not pushed in singles, dropping a total of four games in 24 sets on the day. Shayla Coppenger did not lose a game in three matches as she went undefeated at No. 3 singles. Tori Riopel cruised at No. 1 singles, Dawsyn Barkus picked up three wins at No. 2 singles and Maya Patrick won all three matches at No. 4 singles. 

“Most of the singles weren’t contested much, but I saw a lot of consistency, which is huge,” Nichols said. “Regardless of who you’re playing, you still have to keep the ball in. That was nice, and we did work some finishing shots into games here and there.”

Brooke Sisel and Evelyn Sawyer had a nearly flawless day as they did not drop a single game en route to three straight-set wins at No. 2 doubles. Teagan Turcotte went 3-0 with two different partners at No. 3 doubles. Turcotte and Willow VanDenHeuvel scored a 6-0, 6-0 win in the Ironwood match. Turcotte and Maddie Legrey won 6-0, 6-3 against Merrill and were the pairing of record in a forfeit win against Ashland, which did not field a team at No. 3 doubles. 

“We got to see Evelyn and Brooke be really competitive at that No. 2 position,” Nichols said. “They’re just very solid all around. They worked a lot on volleys and they’re getting some nice putaway shots. No. 3 doubles, we’re still trying to figure out who’s going to fill that position, but we got a nice look at a couple of different options.”

The Hodags ended their first week of competition exactly at .500. Not only is the team 3-3 in dual meets, they have an individual match record of 21-21 through six duals. While still working through some different possible combinations at No. 3 doubles, Nichols said the first week of competition has gone a long way toward solidifying the Hodags’ lineup.

“It’s coming together and I’m excited for it. It’s nice to get to watch and gather some data moving into a big tournament week next week,” he said. 

Rhinelander will have a chance to collect plenty more data points this week as it travels to Wausau for a pair of two-day tournaments. The Hodags were in Wausau yesterday and return today for the first of the two invites and will return to Wausau Friday and Saturday.

“I think we’ll kind of find that middle ground. We had really competitive (matches) at Bay Port, some less competitive matches here, but West, I think those will be really, really competitive, pretty equal across the board,” Nichols said. “I’m excited for some competitive matches, watch them get pushed, and push other teams.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].