Team review: RHS girls’ tennis

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team did not achieve its stated goal of returning to the top of the Great Northern Conference, however, the 2025 season likely went a long way to getting the Hodags back to ruling the conference the way they did during the 2010s and the early part of the 2020s.

Rhinelander wound up tied for third in the GNC after coming up short in a four-way battle for the title that wasn’t decided until some of the final matches of the conference tournament. But the season marked a bounce back for the Hodags who came in off their worst finish in the GNC in 2024 — taking fifth in the conference standings while failing to have a single all-conference player for the first time since joining the league in 2010.

Rhinelander improved two spots in the standings this year and had six all-conference honorees. 

Even getting in position to content for a conference title took plenty of work — after an early season loss to eventual conference champ Wausau Newman put the Hodags behind the 8-ball. Rhinelander ran the table through its remaining conference duals to move into a first place tie in the standings entering the GNC tournament.

“Our goal was not necessarily accomplished in the outcome, but I think it was accomplished in the effort and everything that poured into that season leading up to,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said last month during the team’s season-ending banquet. 

Overall the Hodags went 18-8 in dual meets, including a 7-1 mark in the GNC. They placed fourth at subsectionals, seventh at sectionals and advanced a pair of flights to the second stage of the WIAA playoffs.

Even without a trophy, Nichols said, the 2025 season was a success.

“From last year to the end of this season, I think a huge theme was just improvement from where everyone ended last year’s season to this year’s season. It was crazy to see a lot of people jumping up and filling some new shoes, and then finding success there,” he said.

Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.

Early lumps

Featuring a completely different singles lineup from 2024, and a retooled doubles lineup, the Hodags experienced some growing pains during the first couple of weeks of competition and sat 5-7 overall through its first 12 matches. 

There were plenty of tough matches in there, to be sure. The Hodags went 1-3 in the Bay Port tournament, losing to Division 1 foes Bay Port and New Richmond and a strong D2 program in Eau Claire Regis. Rhinelander then went 3-3 in the Wausau West Invite with losses to subsectional opponents Stevens Point and Wausau West, along with sectional opponent Eau Claire North. 

The Hodags rolled straight from the West tournament into a key early-season matchup against Wausau Newman and things didn’t go Rhinelander’s way on its home courts. Aside from a pair of straight-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles — where Newman was exceptionally weak — the Hodags struggled to find traction. They won a total of 10 games in the other five flights and had six 6-0 set losses in a 5-2 defeat against the Cardinals. 

After that match, Nichols addressed his team for roughly a half hour on the court, laying out what the loss meant in the context of the team’s season.

“The message is that when we look at our goals, and our goal to win conference, that it has obviously become more challenging,” he said afterward. “We’re kind of at a crossroads in our season, and it’s definitely more challenging, but we’re at an early point in our season where there’s still a road to victory. But it just will really depend on the attitude that the girls take at practice and in future matches.”

Conference comeback

Whatever Nichols said in that huddle seemed to galvanize his squad, which went 12-1 in dual meets the rest of the season — the only loss coming in a 4-3 non-conference defeat against Menomonie where a pair of match tiebreakers swung the decision in the favor of the Mustangs. 

The Hodags rolled through the rest of its GNC schedule, including a key 5-2 win over Medford and a 4-3 triumph over Pacelli. Rhinelander closed play with a 5-2 win over Lakeland to move to 7-1 in the conference and into a tie for first in the conference point standings.

“These girls have worked so hard,” Nichols said after the Lakeland match. “Whether we’re there at the top or just a little short, I mean, we’re in a good position. They worked really hard. They’ve earned a lot of really close and tight wins, and they’ve set themselves up well to have a really exciting opportunity at the conference crown when we get to the tourney.”

Rhinelander had history on it side — considering that no team had ever come from behind in the GNC tournament to take the conference title in either boys’ or girls’ tennis. However, the 2025 title fight was like no other the conference had seen. 

With two points handed out for each individual flight victory during the dual meet season, Rhinelander and Medford (5-3) were able to use superior depth to leapfrog Wausau Newman (8-0) and Pacelli (6-2) in the point standings. Rhinelander and Medford went into the conference meet tied atop the standings with Newman two points behind in third and Pacelli only four points back in fourth. 

While the duals rewarded depth, the conference tournament rewarded top players. Wausau Newman claimed four of the seven flights, while Pacelli won two, as both teams jumped Rhinelander and Medford in the standings. When the dust settled Newman won the conference tournament and the overall conference title by five points over Pacelli. Medford and Rhinelander settled for a third-place tie, 10 points behind Newman.

“A conference flight win is just huge in points. I mean, you double a third place. It’s just so hard to win if you’re not winning flights,” Nichols said. “We had two opportunities today and didn’t get either of them. But, you know, it’s something to reflect on in these girls if they want to win a conference, we have a good depth, but we obviously need to put people in that championship match and get wins there.” 

Youthful singles

    In this Sept. 30, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Teagan Turcotte plays a point at the net while teammate Maddie Legrey looks on during a non-conference girls’ tennis dual against Wisconsin Rapids at the RHS tennis courts. Turcotte and Legrey went 14-14 together, qualifying for sectionals at No. 1 doubles. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags had the very definition of a young singles lineup this season. Rhinelander’s starting lineup at the start of the season featured three sophomores and a freshman, who combined had never had a varsity start. 

Annie Vander Galien, Jordan Manske and Taylor McKinney went from JV roles in 2024 to Rhinelander’s top three singles players this year. Vander Galien and Manske, especially, took some lumps after making the big leap. Vander Galien went 8-19 at No. 1 singles and finished fourth in the flight at the conference tournament. Seven of her losses this year came against eventual state qualifiers. Manske, meanwhile, went 15-12 overall, including a 13-9 mark at No. 2 singles, though she was denied a spot in the position rounds at the GNC tournament after a match-tiebreaker loss in the quarterfinals. 

“They didn’t have the best record. They didn’t necessarily win every match, but they were so valuable in the sense of what they brought to the team, what they bought to practice and with how they pushed themselves and their teammates,” Nichols said. 

McKinney had a slightly better go at No. 3 singles, posting a 12-11 record in the flight and a 14-11 mark overall. That included a third-place finish at the GNC tournament as she was one of Rhinelander’s six all-conference honorees. 

Freshman Lucy Evers also took third at conference and entrenched herself at No. 4 singles by mid-season, fending off a couple of upperclassmen challengers. Evers was 17-3 at the flight, 22-3 overall, and advanced to the sectional round of the WIAA tournament where she earned a runner-up finish after defeating Superior’s Anna James in a match tiebreaker in the semifinals at No. 4 singles.

“She showed up earned a spot at No. 4 singles in the varsity lineup and had an amazing season,” Nichols said. “It’s really cool to see that talent, that raw talent, coming in, and then grow throughout the entire season.”

Experienced doubles

While the singles side of the lineup was chock full of underclassmen, the doubles’ side possessed six upperclassmen — including five seniors. Unsurprisingly, that’s where the Hodags had a good deal of their success on the year. 

Legrey, after moving from singles, was paired with fellow senior Teagan Turcotte in the No. 1 flight. They posted an even .500 mark together (14-14) and advanced to sectionals following a straight-set win in the subsectional round.

“Looking at both of both of their careers, they’ve put in a lot of time, a lot of hours and have worked really hard to develop their games,” Nichols said. “Both made a jump up to the No. 1 doubles flight and, early season, the road was a bit rocky. There were growing pains, but it was fun to see them stick it out, grow together, get the win at subsectionals and then finish their season down a second sectionals. It’s cool for them to be able to do that. Not everyone is able to do that, so it’s great to see them as seniors finish there.”

Eva Heck and Willow VanDenHeuvel moved from No. 3 doubles to No. 2 this year, going 16-12 as a tandem. That included a runner-up finish in the GNC. Willow Mutter was paired with the only junior of the group, Addy Currie, at No. 3 singles. They went 21-8 on the year and also finished second in their flight at conference. 

What’s next

Barring some lineup changes, next year figures to be a flip-flop for Rhinelander in that it will be experienced in singles while rebuilding its doubles lineup. Luckily, the Hodags will have some depth to lean on as they retool the lineup. Juniors Sam Aschenbrenner and Becca Brost each went 6-2 this season while making spot starts, mainly in singles. Sophomores Addy Strobel and Alexia Corey-Luse made three starts in doubles, going 2-1 as a tandem.

The Hodags also went 5-4 this season in JV dual meets and won the JV conference tournament. While Pacelli is slated to return most of this year’s squad intact, both Wausau Newman and Medford are slated to have key losses to graduation, perhaps opening the door for Rhinelander to get back to the top of the GNC for the first time since 2022.

“Just the young energy coming up, especially that sophomore class, they’re very excited about getting better, talking about the off season, very open to coaching and I’m excited to see where they go,” Nichols said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].