Hodag tennis goes 1-5 at Bay Port

A new-look lineup for the RHS girls' tennis team was tested right out of the gate Monday and Tuesday in the top division of the Bay Port Invite near Green Bay. The Hodags ended up finishing 1-5 in their dual meets, but coach Matt Nichols said the team gained a lot of insight moving forward. 

“We talked about a lot of things, reflected after every match and we got to see a lot of heavy hitters, good strategies and we’ll have a lot of ideas to move forward with,” he said. 

Rhinelander lost all three matches on the opening day, with a pair of tight 4-3 losses to Bay Port and Marshfield and a 5-2 loss to Appleton North. The Hodags started Day 2 with a 6-1 loss to New Richmond and a 7-0 loss to De Pere before ending the tournament with a 6-1 victory over Menominee, Mich.

“It was nice to see a lot of competitive matches as a team, and then in individual flights as well,” Nichols said. I think two of them were 3-4 losses. That’s as close as you can get as a team without winning. That was cool to see that pushed. Off the top of my head I’d say we had five or six tiebreaks, maybe more, throughout the tourney. So a lot of close matches. It was also a nice opportunity to try some different combinations at that No. 3 doubles spot and then also look at the Nos. 3 and 4 singles.”

The biggest change among the Hodags’ eight returning starters was the swap between seniors Dawsyn Barkus and Karmen Lopez — with Barkus going from No. 2 singles to No. 1 doubles and Lopez moving from No. 1 doubles to No. 2 singles. 

Barkus played with fellow senior Brooke Sisel, who moved up from No. 2 doubles last year. That pairing scored wins over Appleton North, New Richmond and Menominee and fell 8-10 in a match tiebreaker against Bay Port.

“Dawsyn transitioning over from singles brings a lot of consistency in the ground strokes,” Nichols said. “I think both have really improved their serve and, over the offseason, Brooke has really improved a lot of her volley and some of those touch shots. A huge highlight of her game is just being scrappy and sticking with points and getting tough balls back over.” 

Lopez scored wins over Bay Port and Marshfield during the tournament. 

“She had a great time over in singles,” Nichols said. “I think it that it really plays to her strengths. Her groundstrokes are what she really focused on over the offseason. The consistency she brings to the game is a weapon in itself.”

Senior Kelsey Winter, back in the lineup after missing virtually the entire 2023 season due to a knee injury, went 2-4 in her debut at No. 1 singles. She ended Monday’s play with an 11-9 match tiebreaker win over Marshfield’s Maddie Kundiger and won Tuesday’s finale against Menominee’s Elena Murphy. She pushed New Richmond’s Lyndsey Ritzer to a match tiebreaker Tuesday morning, falling 10-7.

“She saw and kind of realized where she was headed when she saw (former Hodag No. 1) Tori (Riopel) competing against other No. 1 singles the last couple of years,” Nichols said. “I think the transition was a little easier. She’s hitting well, a lot of strategy in the offseason, and I think she knew it was coming and she was ready to get push, and push back.”

Rhinelander also turned in a .500 record at No. 2 doubles. Senior Evelyn Sawyer, an incumbent at the position, had a new partner in fellow senior Maya Patrick. The two scored wins over Bay Port, Appleton North and Menominee and dropped a match tiebreaker against De Pere. 

Overall, Nichols said it was a solid tournament from his doubles pairings.

“Whether they won or lost they were at least competing and in it,” he said. “I would say serving is a strength. We worked on cross-court ground strokes and that kind of came along at the end of the tourney. Moving forward, we’re really going to focus on the net play and finish points off. We develop them well. Now it’s just putting the ball away.”

Rhinelander tried out a number of combinations at No. 3 doubles as well as Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Juniors Teagan Turcotte and Willow VanDenHeuvel finished last year at No. 3 doubles, but the Hodags also worked juniors Willow Mutter and Maddie Legrey into the mix during the tournament. VanDenHeuvel picked up two wins at the flight — a tiebreaker win over De Pere with Mutter and a straight set win over Menominee with Turcotte.

“We’re just trying to look at the pairings, chemistry and how individuals work with each other,” Nichols said. “That’s helping us shape that No. 3 doubles spot, or at least the pairings, and then we can play off from there once we have partners.”

    Rhinelander’s Maddie Legrey hits a return while teammate Teagan Turcotte looks on during a doubles match against De Pere at Bay Port High School in Suamico Tuesday, Aug. 20. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Legrey played the majority of her matches in singles during the tournament, picking up a straight set win in the fourth flight over Marshfield’s Greta Frey and in the third flight over Menominee’s Delaney Wagner.

“Maddie kind of jumped out, really bringing a lot of consistency, whether it was doubles or singles,” Nichols said. “Whichever way she goes, kind of leaning toward singles, she’s going to bring strength to that side of the lineup. It’s really cool to see her step up. She made a big jump and it’s going to pay dividends for the team.

A pair of sophomores, Sam Aschenbrenner and Becca Brost, played a number of matches at Nos. 3 and 4 singles for the Hodags throughout the tournament. Aschenbrenner went 1-5, closing out the tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Menominee’s Melanie Franke at No. 4 singles. Brost went 0-2 in a pari of matches at No. 4 singles.

The Hodags (1-5, 0-0 Great Northern) continued a busy opening week of play yesterday in the GNC opener at Antigo, which concluded after press time for today’s edition. The Hodags are home today for a non-conference quadrangular against Ashland, Merrill and Ironwood, Mich. and will travel to Wausau Monday for the first day of a multi-dual tournament.

“Thursday and Friday is going to be a lot of can we learn from what we saw at Bay Port and translate it into our game and make our game that much more competitive,” Nichols said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].