Hodag tennis fends off Medford, remains unbeaten in GNC

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team fought off hot conditions, and a pesky Medford team, on Tuesday to improve to 3-0 in the Great Northern Conference.

The Hodags won the top three singles flights, and got a victory at No. 2 doubles to push them over the top in a 4-3 win on the road at Medford. 

Rhinelander moved into a tie for second in the conference with Lakeland on 32 points. The Hodags sat six points behind GNC-leading Wausau Newman heading into a matchup with the Cardinals at home Thursday which concluded after press time for today’s edition.

“They’re a much improved team since last year,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said of Tuesday’s win. “(Medford’s) Jake (Bucki) is a great coach and I knew they’d come out ready to compete. They had a lot of hustle, got a lot of balls that I don’t think we were ready for them to get back. But, on the flip side, we got the 4-3 win, which is huge when we look at conference, team record. Moving forward, that’s just a nice pat of the back to the team for their hard work throughout the season.”

The Hodags controlled the top three singles flights with Tori Riopel, Dawsyn Barkus and Shayla Coppenger picking up straight-set wins. Riopel rolled 6-2, 6-1 over Mary Raznik in the top flight, Barkus won 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Jaylin Machon at No. 2 and Coppenger cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Morgan Strebig at No. 3.

“The Nos. 1 and 3 singles spots were largely uncontested,” Nichols noted. “Tori had some great shots and she earned those games she won. It was kind of the same for Dawsyn. The first set she was a little shaky and then she found her groove.”

Rhinelander’s Evelyn Sawyer and Brooke Sisel picked up what proved to be the clinching point at No. 2 doubles, taking down Medford’s Indya Mann and Grace Mann 6-3, 6-3. Otherwise it was a tough day on the doubles front for the Hodags. Medford’s Masaeda Krug and Audrey Ruesch took down Rhinelander’s Kayla Tessmann and Karmen Lopez in straight sets in the top flight. It was a similar story at No. 3 where Madison Clarkson and Makenna Tlusty were straight-set winners over Maya Patrick and Willow VanDenHeuvel.

“Across the board in doubles we’ve been working a lot on positioning. I think we had a great opportunity to practice that,” Nichols said. “Medford’s a very disciplined doubles team where they’re going to exploit our weaknesses. I think we got caught a little off guard. It was a hot day. We were a little slow and behind a lot of balls we needed to stay on top of if we wanted to get the win.”

Medford also picked up a win at No. 4 singles with Natalie Preuss edging freshman Sam Aschenbrenner in a match tiebreaker 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-8. The match was decided in a tiebreaker, rather than a full third set as customary in GNC duals, because Medford was slated to play one more match on Tuesday against Bloomer. 

“No. 4 singles, we’re still trying to grow into that spot,” Nichols noted. “We’ve got a couple freshmen going through there and just getting the experience is good. Sam got two tiebreaks. She won one of them, lost the other. That cost her the match but just a great experience for her.” 

Because Medford played two matches on Tuesday, and their facility has only six courts, it meant an early start in the brunt of the heat. Rhinelander’s match got underway at 2 p.m. and the temperature climbed as high as 87 degrees with a heat index of 90 during the dual. 

“It was tough,” Nichols said. “There’s conditions we can use and everyone plays through. That doesn’t fit anyone, I don’t think. It’s tough to play through that. It definitely affects movement on the court. You get tired quicker. Trying to push through that is a challenge in itself.”

Rhinelander, and the majority of the GNC, will be in Wausau today and tomorrow for a two-day invitational. Antigo, Lakeland, Medford and Wausau Newman are also schedule to take part in the 11-team tournament.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].