Hodag netters split matches at Wausau Invite

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team went 3-3 Monday and Tuesday in a non-conference multi-dual invite at Wausau West.

Monday’s play featured a 6-1 win over Wausau East and a 4-3 win over Green Bay Preble to go along with a 6-1 loss to Stevens Point. Rhinelander beat Shawano 5-2 on Tuesday, but lost to Eau Claire North and Wausau West by matching 6-1 margins. 

Hodag coach Matt Nichols said, much like last week’s season opening tournament at Bay Port, his team got play a lot of tennis and learned on the go.

“Similar to Bay Port, it was helpful to see a lot of different play styles, which showed us our strengths or weaknesses, and also forced us to become adaptable and continuing to adjust our game, not only to our opponents, but especially here, it’s been a bit windy, so to the weather conditions as well,” he said.

Sophomore Jordan Manske had a solid tournament at No. 2 singles, going 3-2 in the flight. She earned straight-set wins over Wausau East and Shawano and had the Hodags’ lone win against Wausau West as she improved to 7-3 in singles play on the year. She also played a match at No. 1 doubles, falling in straight sets to Eau Claire North while paired with fellow singles player Annie Vander Galien.

“She had a great two-day tourney here. She saw some tough competition, and she’s just a very mentally strong player. She goes out there (and) every point she’s ready to compete,” Nichols said. “She’s also very strategic. When she was playing doubles, Annie commented on how she would bring some strategy into every changeover, whether a coach was talking with them or not. I think that really stood out as a strength for her. Not only does she have strokes, but she knows how to use them and how to adjust her game, to use them to her fullest potential.”

Rhinelander trotted a number of players through at Nos. 3 and 4 singles in the tournament and went a combined 8-4 at those two flights. Freshman Lucy Evers won all both of her matches, including the lone win for Rhinelander at No. 4 singles in the Eau Claire North match. Juniors Becca Brost and Sam Aschenbrenner each went 2-1. Brost picked up two wins at No. 4 singles, including a match tiebreak victory over Stevens Point. Aschenbrenner won at No. 4 singles against Preble and against Shawano. Taylor McKinney also went 2-1, dropping a three-setter against SPASH and winning against Wausau East and Shawano at No. 3 singles. 

Nichols noted that the team is still trying to figure out the best combination of players in those slots of the lineup as it prepares to enter the heart of conference play.

“It’s interesting to see the scores as they come in. I think it just really depends on the play style of the opponent in comparison to the play style of one of those girls,” he said. “I think that is something that’s still kind of a question mark, and I’m not quite sure where those will exactly end up by the end of the season.”

Willow Mutter and Addy Currie went 3-2 together at No. 3 doubles, while Rhinelander’s top two doubles pairs of Teagan Turcotte and Maddie Legrey, and Eva Heck and Willow VanDenHeuvel each picked up a pair of wins during the tournament.

“When they were playing well, they were doing a really good job pushing the ball deep, and consequently opening up net play and putting shots away,” Nichols said of his doubles teams. “Serves, I think were also a strength. Serve and serve return we’re very solid across the board. So it was fun to see us having developed that, because I think serves were not quite there when we were at Bay Port.”

The Hodags faced Wausau Newman Thursday in a match that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander is back home today for a home quadrangular featuring Ashland, Merrill and Ironwood, Mich. 

That will mean by the end of today, the Hodags will have played 10 matches this week. That’s a lot of tennis, but something Nichols said will serve the team well in the long run.

“It’s invaluable experience getting match play and growing as you play, and also just getting some conditioning on the court,” he said. “They’re forced to move to play hard to sprint after balls and the girls that are doing that are really growing and also getting conditioned for some of the big tourneys towards the end of the season — thinking of conference, regionals. You’re playing multiple matches a day. Can you play your hardest from one match to the next? This will be a really good week for that.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].