Hodag netters edge Rapids 4-3 in regular season finale

The Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team added one final piece to its postseason resume Tuesday, defeating Wisconsin Rapids 4-3 in a non-conference dual at the RHS tennis courts.

Maddie Legrey and Teagan Turcotte had the swing match for the Hodags, rallying from down a set to win at No. 1 doubles. The Hodags swept doubles play on Tuesday and got a win from Lucy Evers at No. 4 singles. 

For the Hodags (17-8), Tuesday’s win was one final chance to improve their record before the WIAA tournament begins this coming Monday at Wausau West. Rhinelander and Wisconsin Rapids are two of the teams that will be taking part in the eight-team subsectional.

“Any win is exciting. It’s great to see the girls win as a team,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. “It is the final tune-up going into subsectionals, So any momentum we can gain from this is huge. Whether it was an individual loss or win, it’s cool to see the team win as a whole and gain some confidence from that.”

Legrey and Turcotte dropped their first set against Alison Shilte and Stella Kuha 2-6, but rallied for a 6-3 win in the second and controlled the tiebreaker from the get-go. Up 7-2 early, the Hodag tandem put it away 10-5 with a Turcotte finish at the net. 

“It was cool to see, beyond the score just them being able to elevate their game in that second set, really earn the win and then carry it through the tiebreak,” Nichols said.

The Hodags cruised in the two other doubles flight. Willow VanDenHeuvel and Eva Heck were 6-0, 6-1 winners over Ivy Kardash and Bella Thor at No. 2 and Willow Mutter and Addy Currie downed Abagail Rusch and Carcha Kang 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3. 

It was a similar story for Evers at No. 4 singles as she rolled past Kayvenna Lor 6-1, 6-0.

“They faced some weaker opponents, but on the same side, they took care of business. They played clean games on their side, and ultimately took the easy win,” Nichols said. 

Rhinelander fell in straight sets in the top three singles flights. Annie Vander Galien lost to Sydney Holberg 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1, Jordan Manske fell to Emily Jesse 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 and Taylor McKinney lost to Layla Wesslek 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3. 

“With the individual flight wins, that’s a huge thing moving forward because they’ll definitely impact us positively when we go into the seeding meeting,” Nichols said. “Nice win for No. 1 doubles, especially. You know, the losses, obviously, the opposite would be true. It kind of puts us at a disadvantage when we look at some seeds going into the sub. But it’s not something that we can’t bounce back from.”

The eight-team subsectional includes the six teams from the Wisconsin Valley Conference, plus Rhinelander at Merrill from the GNC. The Hodags were 5-2 in dual meets against those schools this year, with the losses coming to Wausau West and Stevens Point. Rhinelander did not play Marshfield this season. The Tigers were third in the WVC standings, behind Point and Wausau West, entering their conference tournament, which took place on Thursday. 

Nichols said the results of that tournament would likely go a long way to seeding the field for subsectionals, but Rhinelander will try to shoehorn in where it can to earn good seeds. Turcotte and Legrey figure to have a strong resume going into subsectionals, going 6-2 against the schools in the field, including three wins over Merrill. Manske was 5-2 against the field at No. 2 singles, as were Heck and VanDenHevuel at No. 2 doubles. Evers was 3-0 at No. 4 singles, but didn’t play in early-season non-conference matches against Wausau West, Wausau East and Stevens Point. Rhinelander won in the flight in two of those three matches, however. 

“We’ll see. We do have strong depth and it’s cool to see those lower flights compete,” Nichols said. “It’ll be fun to see those high flights, where they end up. Even if they don’t have the top seed, can the underdog pull through? That mentality can make a huge difference in upsetting someone who might be a little tense and thinking they really need to win.

“Obviously, we’re searching for wins. It would be amazing to get at least a couple flights through to sectionals. We have the shot to do it, but across the board, if we play our best tennis, it’s just going to make us make us a better team win or lose.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].