June 5, 2023 at 9:13 a.m.
Roeser, Belanger win match at state tennis tourney
Roeser, Belanger win match at state tennis tourney
The Hodag pair advanced to the round of 32, defeating Franklin's Julian Beckmann and Aidan Irish in straight sets on Thursday before falling to Germantown's Conner Pallan and Cole Neinas, the No. 15 seed in the draw, in the second round Friday morning at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the UW-Madison campus.
Though the Hodags had earned a couple of special exemptions in recent years, Belanger and Roeser were the first Rhinelander entry to earn an automatic bid to the state tournament since Rahul Jain in 2009. They also became the first Hodag entry to win a match at state since Jain that same year.
"It's always nice to finish down in Madison at state. Even better, they got a win that first round," Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. "That's huge. They finished top 32. They beat half the other guys that went down there. It was fun to watch, fun to experience and I'm proud of them."
The tandem finished the year with a 24-4 record overall in doubles. Roeser, a senior, said it was a satisfying finish to his career.
"I was kind of happy with how it ended. It was fun making it to state," he said.
"We may have not made it as far as we would have wanted to, but it was definitely fun while it lasted," added Belanger, a junior. "It's definitely a better way to end your season at state than to end it at subsectionals or sectionals."
Both Roeser and Belanger said they felt as though they had a decent chance to knock off Pallan and Neinas in the second round, despite falling in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. That match took roughly an hour and a half to complete Friday morning, a product of many games going back and forth for numerous points.
"It went into deuce like every game, it just didn't go our way a lot of the times," Roeser said. "It was just who was hitting more consistent. The more consistent team seemed to win."
"I think if some of those deuce games would have went our way, it would have been a different story at pivotal points win the match, but they played really well," Nichols added. "They lost to a quality team. I couldn't ask for a better way to end."
The Hodag pair opened their tournament on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Beckmann and Irish. Nichols said it was some of the best tennis the two played all season.
"They looked pretty relaxed and they looked in control the whole time. They just played really well," Nichols said. "What really got them the win, and it's the best I've seen them do it all year, was finishing shots up at the net, just closing at the net. They had really nice cross-court returns. Everything came together right at the end, which was awesome to see."
Had Belanger and Roeser won their second round match, they would have faced an uphill battle in the round of 16. Pallan and Neinas were defeated 6-3, 6-1 by second-seeded Neel Mukherjee and Jonathan Kim of Middleton, who advanced all the way to Saturday's semifinal round.
Regardless, Nichols said it was a great way for Roeser to end his career.
"Layne's been one of those seniors that has led and pushed the team," he said. "He not only pushes the team but pushes himself. He's grown so much over the last few years. He fell short last year, so it was great that he was able to get the opportunity this year to compete. He deserved it. To get the win, it's just a great way to close out his senior year. I'm super proud of him."
Belanger said he learned some valuable lessons at state that will help him as one of the top returning players on next year's team.
"You can compete with any team you want, you just have to want it more than they want it," he said.
Nichols added, "That's a huge thing to take away going into next year - going through the regular season and, hopefully, again at state - that's something he can go by and win on."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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