Hodag tennis battles the elements in Wausau

Facing a heat index that topped out at 101 degrees, RHS girls’ tennis coach Matt Nichols said Monday’s play in the Wausau West Invite was a test of players’ ability to “embrace the suck.” 

A day after sticking them in the sauna, Mother Nature gave the Hodags — and the rest of the teams in Wausau — a bit of a reprieve Tuesday as morning thunderstorms washed away the remainder of the day’s play with only a handful of matches underway.

Rhinelander wound up going 1-2 in the abbreviated invite. The Hodags defeated Wausau East 6-1, were edged by Wausau West 4-3 and were swept by Eau Claire North 7-0.

Given Monday’s extreme heat and the busy schedule his team has played already, Nichols said losing a day of matches on Tuesday was not the worst outcome for his team.

“I think the girls could have used an easier day, considering the heat,” he said. “There have been a lot of matches in the last week. We’re struggling with a couple of injuries — nothing super major — but I think just some overuse and a little rest will do us good.”

Weather was the No. 1 storyline on Monday, a day where several area districts scrapped subvarsity play and practices due to the high heat and humidity. Things went on as planned in Wausau, however. 

According to official data at the Wausau Downtown Airport from the National Weather Service, the heat index was already at 88 degrees by the time play began at 10 a.m. Monday. The ambient temperature continued to climb, reaching 90 degrees by the 2 o’clock hour. The heat index hit triple digits officially during the 3 p.m. hour at the airport.

Nichols said he was pleased with how his team handled the adverse conditions.

“It’s a challenge to stay spunky and on your toes during a match and to add the heat in, it’s a new layer,” he said. “The girls, I thought they did a really nice job. We talked about you’re playing your opponent, your playing yourself and your playing the conditions. Yesterday was a tough one to win against the conditions. But I thought they played well, they worked hard and it was great to see them kind of embrace the suck.”

Doubles stood out for the Hodags during Monday’s play as the Hodags swept those flights both against Wausau East and Wausau West. Dawsyn Barkus and Brooke Sisel earned a pair of straight-set wins at No. 1, Evelyn Sawyer and Maya Patrick did the same at No. 2, as did Teagan Turcotte and Willow VanDenHeuvel at No. 3. Turcotte and VanDenHeuvel went the distance in their opening set against Wausau West’s Zoe Hoff and Aryana Bushman before coming away with a 7-5, 6-2 win.

“All three flights are kind of improving in different ways, but just in terms of net play, those Nos. 1 and 2 spots had some more aggressive games,” Nichols said. “Then No. 3 doubles is just really coming along with some of their positioning and volley angles.”

Even in the loss against Eau Claire North, the doubles had the best performance. Eva Heck and JaLyn LaChapelle, filling in at No. 3 doubles, pushed Katie Otto and Ayla Quaschnick to a match tiebreaker before falling 4-6, 6-4, 10-3.

“It’s nice to have that depth in doubles. It shows the depth of the team and it’s really cool to see how those flights take up some big wins,” Nichols noted.

Rhinelander took three of the four singles matches against Wausau East to secure that dual meet victory. Kelsey Winter was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Abbey Olson at No. 1, Karmen Lopez defeated Elizabeth Chan 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2 and LaChapelle defeated Marley Krambs 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4.

Winter got in the most matches in the tournament, going 1-3. She faced tough competition in the top flight. She lost to Wausau West’s Mia Bailey, who reached the third round of the WIAA state tournament last year, as well as Eau Claire North’s Miah Nelson, who was one point away from making state last year until Rhinelander’s Tori Riopel rallied past her in a sectional quarterfinal match. Winter played the only match for Rhinelander that finished before the rain Tuesday, losing to state round of 32 participant Khali Stephens of Bay Port in straight sets. 

The only other score reported from Tuesday was at No. 2 doubles where Sawyer and Patrick were down 6-1, 1-0 to Bay Port’s Callie Schuette and Mira Matuszewski at the time of the cancellation.

“We were rained out, but a lot of the girls were bummed that we weren’t able to get that match in,” Nichols said. “It’s cool to see they’re really hungry for that competition. They want to get after it. That little bit of taste of what could have been there is going to carry over into Friday and I hope it brings them in ready to go.”

The Hodags had a rare commodity Wednesday and Thursday with consecutive practice days for the first time since the first week of the season. Rhinelander jumps right back into matches today and tomorrow in another multi-day invite at Wausau West.

“It’s great to get the early-season tournaments, see what we’re good at, see what we need to work on,” Nichols said Tuesday. “Now we finally have some time to work on those things. It’s going to be great have these next two days.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].