Hodag tennis goes 1-3 at Bay Port

A young Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis squad showed some flashes in its season opening invite, going 1-3 in the two-day Battle on the Fox tournament hosted by Bay Port High School near Green Bay.

Three of the four duals were decided by a single match. The Hodags pulled out a 4-3 win in the opener Monday against Onalaska Luther. They dropped tight 4-3 decisions to New Richmond and Eau Claire Regis on Tuesday before falling to the hosting Pirates 7-0 in the last match of the day. 

With five players making their varsity debut for a team that is replacing six starters from last year’s lineup, Hodag coach Matt Nichols said the two-day tournament was a valuable learning tool, playing against some strong non-conference opponents. 

“We have a fairly young squad. About half the girls, this was our first time at Bay Port at the varsity tourney, so just getting that experiencing some of the higher level play — especially like the top flights just steam at top spin, the depth, positioning — it was nice for everyone to see that whether they were watching or playing against it.

“We got to see a lot of variety of play styles, which was great to see. I think that was a kind of a highlight of the two-day tourney, was the girls getting to see different play styles and then working on some of their own play styles and adapting to theirs, and (asking), ‘How can we respond to other players strengths and how can we use our own?’”

Rhinelander’s youthful singles lineup was tested right out of the gate in Monday’s opener against Onalaska Luther, pulling out three match tiebreak victories to secure the dual for the Hodags. 

Sophomore Jordan Manske held off Kate Elliot 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Taylor McKinney rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over Ellie Burnet at No. 3 and freshman Lucy Evers got past Hannah Olson 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 at No. 4 in the first varsity match for all three Hodag singles players. 

“That was really fun, and that I think just plays to their adaptability — whether they won the first set, lost the second or vice versa — being able to pull through the tiebreak,” Nichols said. “Any tiebreak I really chalk it up to mindset and just being able to play through it, because obviously both players are skilled and who is gonna be able to work through the pressure and hold true to their strategy. It was really exciting to see that especially from a brand new singles line.”

Senior Willow Mutter and junior Addy Currie scored the lone win in doubles for the Hodags against Onalaska Luther, defeating Ada Lambrecht and Rianna Buege 6-2, 6-3. Mutter and Currie finished 3-1 in the tournament, also claiming wins in the matches against New Richmond and Regis. 

“We knew our three double flights were we close, which would results in a really competitive No. 3,” Nichols said. “So that was really exciting to see and — both with limited starts on varsity and never having played together — it was great to see them grow, not only as varsity players, but also as a duo.”

Manske and Evers both won two matches during the tournament, as they scored singles wins against New Richmond. Junior Becca Brost stepped in at No. 3 singles against Regis to pick up a win and the Hodags also got a victory in that dual from the No. 2 doubles tandem of seniors Eva Heck and Willow VanDenHeuvel.

The Hodags were originally scheduled to play six matches at the invite, but rain washed away most of Monday’s play. 

Rhinelander (1-3, 0-0 Great Northern) was set to kick off conference play on the road at Antigo Thursday in a match that concluded after press time. The team will then travel to Wausau this coming Monday and Tuesday for another two-day invite. 

“It’ll be fun to kick off the conference season and kind of see where we where we sit, where we Antigo is and also get to see the other scores roll in,” Nichols said. “But we’re just excited. We were reflected quite a bit on the match — where we can improve on, what we what we did well — and we’re excited to bring those bring our strengths out to Antigo and walk away with a dub to start.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].