Sweep of Columbus moves Hodag tennis within striking distance in GNC

Everything is setting up for a multi-team showdown next Thursday for the Great Northern Conference girls’ tennis title in Rhinelander, and the Hodags are right in the mix.

Rhinelander gained serious ground in the conference race Tuesday, surviving a match tiebreaker at No. 2 singles to earn a 7-0 victory over Marshfield Columbus on the road. 

With conference-leading Medford idle on Tuesday, the win brought the Hodags within four points of the Raiders with one conference match remaining for both teams prior to the tournament. The Hodags also put some distance between themselves and third-place Wausau Newman, which beat Merrill 5-2 on Tuesday. Rhinelander is now six points ahead of the Cardinals for the runner-up spot. 

“Looking at points and how other teams have been doing and really focusing on where we need to be, 7-0 was a really important step moving forward through this week and for the conference,” Hodag tennis coach Matt Nichols said.

Sophomore Jordan Manske was bumped down to No. 4 singles on Tuesday in an effort to buy her a bit of rest. Marshfield Columbus did not field a No. 4 singles player, allowing Manske to earn a forfeit victory. 

Moving into the No. 2 role on Tuesday, sophomore Taylor McKinney had the tightest match of the night. She rallied from down a set to defeat Bella Maurer in a match tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-2, 10-5.

“We were all on the edge of our seat, but she dropped the first set. It was a close one,” Nichols said. “(She was) struggling a bit with consistency, kind of playing into her mental game, bringing her down a bit, but she was able to rally through that second set and then tiebreak to get the win, which was huge for the team as a whole.”

Rhinelander cruised in the two other singles matches. Annie Vander Galien downed Azariah Hoffman McGee, 6-1, 6-3 in the top flight while Lucy Evers was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Norah Alcott in the third flight. 

“Annie at No. 1 singles, I will say we worked a lot on top spin and hitting the ball to different spots on the court. I think she really highlighted that against a weaker opponent, but still being able to bring it into gameplay,” Nichols said. “Lucy was just consistent as always, just kind of took care of business, unopposed. Not much challenge there.”

Rhinelander took care of all three doubles matches in straight sets. Teagan Turcotte and Maddie Legrey were pushed a bit in the second set, but claimed a  6-0, 6-4 win over Anna Callaghan and Callie Bell at No. 1. The teams of Willow VanDenHeuvel and Eva Heck and Willow Mutter and Addy Currie dropped one game between them in victories at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles.

“Across the doubles, there wasn’t a lot of, I would say, close matches,” Nichols said. “I think No. 1 doubles it got to 6-4 in the second set, but they all looked like they were in control, good strokes. I wouldn’t say anything fancy, but they were able to get the job done.” 

Wausau Invite

The Hodags rolled into Tuesday win off of a competitive final non-conference invite of the season last weekend. Rhinelander went 3-1 in the Wausau Invite held last Friday and Saturday. 

Beginning with a pair of matches hosted by Wausau East, the Hodags used a modified lineup to knock off conference rival Antigo 6-1 before suffering a close 4-3 loss to Menomonie on Friday. The Hodags closed the day with a 4-3 win at D.C. Everest and then returned to Everest Saturday where it earned another 4-3 victory over New Richmond.

“A lot of tough opponents, quality opponents, and they all played really well,” Nichols said. “It was the perfect way to end kind of those mid-season tourneys.” 

All three 4-3 matches were decided by match tiebreakers. Rhinelander lost both tiebreakers in the loss to Menomonie, split tiebreakers in the win over Everest and took both tiebreakers in the win over New Richmond. 

Against Menomonie, McKinney dropped a match tiebreaker 10-3 at No. 3 singles while Heck and VanDenHeuvel fell 10-6 in a match that went the distance at No. 2 doubles. Evers rallied to beat Everest’s Ina Espinoza-Almazar 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 at No. 4 singles to get the clinching point against the Evergreens. 

After dropping a tiebreaker against Everest, Mutter and Currie prevailed in a tiebreaker 10-6 at No. 3 doubles Saturday against New Richmond. Manske earned the clinching point at No. 2 singles, recovering from a rough second set to edge Etta Carlson 6-2, 0-6, 13-11.

“A lot of tiebreaks this weekend, and it was exciting to see them play them really well,” Nichols noted. “Some didn’t go our way, but most of them did. It was just a lot of good gameplay. It was staying strong mentally, taking the shots we needed to take and then walking away playing our best tennis.”

Manske went 4-0 on the weekend. She teamed with Vander Galien for a win at No. 1 doubles against Antigo before earning wins at No. 2 singles in the final three matches. Evers went 3-0 on the weekend, winning at No. 2 singles against Antigo before a pair of wins at No. 4 singles against Menomonie and Everest. 

Up next

Rhinelander hosted Lakeland Thursday in a match that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a brief recap of the match and read a full report, along with a Great Northern Conference tournament, preview in the Tuesday, Sept. 23 edition of the River News. 

That match, plus the results of Pacelli at Medford and Marshfield Columbus at Wausau Newman on Thursday, will set the table for the conference race entering next week’s conference meet. 

The Hodags will host the GNC tournament this coming Thursday at the RHS tennis courts.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].