Team Preview: RHS girls’ tennis

Whether it was a matter of the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team fading back to the pack, the rest of the Great Northern Conference getting better or a combination of the two, 2023 was an uncharacteristic season for the Hodags.

Rhinelander placed third in the GNC —  its worst finish in the conference since joining the league in 2011. Furthermore, the Hodags failed to win an individual flight at conference for the first time as a GNC member. 

Coach Matt Nichols, who’s won two conference titles in four seasons with the Hodags, said the goal for his team is not just to get back to the top of the GNC this year. He wants to see the team set the table for a long run a dominance, like the Hodags had in the 2010s when they won eight conference titles in nine years.

“It’s not just to win conference this year, but to start the streak,” he said. “We came up with that goal because it’s not just this year, tied to maybe 10 people. It’s program-wide. It’s this year, but it’s also next year and the following year. Can the sophomores and freshmen push themselves this year so that when they step up, they’re ready? 

“We’re looking to start it this year. It’s that hunger. It’s that drive and we’re looking for that outcome.”

While the Hodags return seven starters from last year’s squad in search of that goal, getting back to the top of the GNC will be easier said than done with most of the top teams in the conference returning the majority of their rosters. 

While Rhinelander didn’t suffer many losses to graduation, the team had three key departures. Tori Riopel was the GNC runner-up at No. 1 singles last year. Not only did Riopel (24-13) qualify for the WIAA state tournament, she was the only Hodag to make it through to the sectional round of the playoffs. 

Rhinelander also bid farewell to Shayla Coppenger (22-12) who held down the No. 3 singles spot last year and Kayla Tessmann (13-20) who played No. 1 doubles. 

The Hodags list of returning starters might as well be eight as senior Kelsey Winter returns to the fold. She went 14-15 at No. 2 singles as a sophomore, but missed virtually all of the 2023 season with a knee injury. Back at full strength, Winter is the leading candidate to take over Riopel’s vacated role at No. 1 singles. 

“With Kelsey shuffling back in the mix, it’s almost like a direct sub with Tori,” Nichols said. “Tori’s gone but Kelsey’s looking for a top singles spot and she’s looking to compete there too. She has a strong mindset. She’s a competitor. You see it in her other sports. She’s ready to bring it.”

The Hodags have a senior-laden squad, but exactly how the lineup will shake out remains to be seen. Dawsyn Barkus (16-15) played at No. 2 singles last year and Karmen Lopez teamed with Tessmann at No. 1 doubles, but Nichols said the two may swap roles this year — with Barkus going to doubles and Lopez to singles. 

“Watching them this last year to this year, I think that will be tested out, but it looks like it will complement their strengths well,” he said.

In doubles, the Hodags bring back two of their tandems from last year. Seniors Brooke Sisel and Evelyn Sawyer went 14-15 together at No. 2 doubles, finishing third in the flight at the conference tournament. Juniors Teagan Turcotte and Willow VanDenHeuvel were 8-10 together at No. 3 doubles and also placed third at the conference tournament. The biggest question is if those pairings stay together and how they slot into the lineup with Barkus’s move to doubles.

Nichols said another wild card is senior Maya Patrick, who finished last year at No. 4 singles, but also played nine matches in doubles. Nichols noted last week that Patrick was trending toward the doubles’ side of the lineup.

Rhinelander returns a couple of sophomores who earned spot starts in singles last year in Becca Brost (3-5) and Sam Aschenbrenner (1-2). Junior Willow Mutter, sophomore JaLyn LaChapelle and freshman Addie Currie are in the mix as well. Junior Maddie Legrey is back after going 3-5 in doubles last year. She and fellow junior Eva Heck are also in the mix on the doubles’ side. 

The good news for the Hodags, they’ll have plenty of chances to test lineup combinations early in the season. Rhinelander concludes a two-day tournament at Bay Port today to open the regular season. GNC play begins against at Antigo on Thursday and the team will be back home Friday for a non-conference quadrangular meet. Next week’s schedule includes two, two-day non-conference invites in Wausau.

“I always think of it as tournament season and conference season, and we are entering the heat of the tournament season,” Nichols said. “It’s Bay Port, Wausau, Wausau, Wausau, it seems like every other day, but it will be great. It’s a lot of tennis early on. We can address weaknesses. We can work on our strengths. We can work on our gameplay and it’s against a wide variety of teams, a wide variety of skill levels so it’s just a great way to start out and start competing. 

“I’m excited for these long tourney days. We can rotate through, still have competitive teams, give people a break but they’re also pushing each other. No team rides one or two good players. It’s the whole team working together and pushing each other.”

Rhinelander will enter the heart of the GNC schedule after Labor Day, beginning with a Sept. 3 matchup at Pacelli. That will begin a string of three straight key Tuesday meets that will go a long way to determining the Hodags’ conference chances. Rhinelander hosts defending GNC champion Lakeland Sept. 10 and travels to conference runner-up Wausau Newman Sept. 17.

Don’t expect either of those teams — or fourth-place Pacelli for that matter — to take much of a step backwards this season. Lakeland and Pacelli are both slated to return eight starters from last year, while Newman brings back nine starters. Reigning conference singles player of the year in Natalie Cooper returns for Pacelli while Lakeland brings back half of its top doubles team, returning senior Kristina Ouimette.

In fact, of last year’s individual conference champions, only two graduated — Savannah Barton and Charley Cleveland off of Lakeland’s Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams.

“Last year was junior heavy so now we’re looking at a lot of well-seasoned seniors, strong returning teams,” Nichols said. “We finished third. You have Newman coming back, Lakeland coming back, Pacelli’s going to be strong. Medford’s going to improve. It’s a strong conference and it’s really cool to see. We’re going to get pushed in conference matches. We’re excited. We want the competition. We want to revel in it and have the outcome we’re looking for.

“I think this year, and I hope the girls are sharing the mindset, that in the past we looked at these teams and they might have been a little intimidated but I think, this year, we’re just going to go out there, give it our best and we’re going to expect to win. We’re going to go out there, we’re going to push, bring our best tennis and we’re looking to take conference, take the duals and in postseason, have a good run.”

Beyond conference, the Hodags will be motivated to have more success in the WIAA tournament than they had a season ago. That will be easier said than done in a tough subsectional that will include all of the Wisconsin Valley Conference, plus Medford from the GNC. 

“Postseason, when we look at the sub, we’re in a tough sub. I think SPASH, Marshfield and West are all going to be top teams,” Nichols said. “To get through (to sectionals), you’ve got to be top two, unless you’re in the No. 1 flight. I think a goal could be getting 3-4 people through the sub. Last year it was just Tori, but we also had a lot of close matches and we’ve seen an improved team. I think that we can compete with them and I think our schedule is going to really push us and prepare us for those matches.”

The Hodags will have the advantage of being at home, as the host school for subsectionals on Monday, Oct. 7. Rhinelander is also currently listed on the WIAA website as the host venue for the sectional tournament two days later, though Nichols noted there is a chance that may move to Wausau or Eau Claire which have more indoor courts available than Rhinelander has with its four inside the Hodag Dome.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent/Event    Time

8/19-20    Bay Port Invite    9 a.m.

8/22    at Antigo*    4:30 p.m.

8/23    HODAG QUAD    9 a.m.

8/26-27    Wausau West Invite    10 a.m./9 a.m.

8/30-31    Wausau West Invite    10 a.m./9 a.m.

9/3    at Pacelli*    4:30 p.m.

9/5    MEDFORD*    4:30 p.m.

9/10    LAKELAND*    4:30 p.m.

9/12    PHILLIPS*    4:30 p.m.

9/13-14    Wausau West Invite    Noon/9 a.m.

9/17    at Wausau Newman*    4:30 p.m.

9/19    MARSHFIELD COLUMBUS*    4:30 p.m.

9/26    GNC Meet at Antigo*    9 a.m.

10/1    at Wisconsin Rapids    4 p.m.

10/7    WIAA SUBSECTIONALS at RHS    9:30 a.m.

10/9    WIAA Sectionals at TBD    9:30 a.m. 

* Conference meets | HOME MEETS IN CAPS