Newman, Pacelli pass Hodag netters at GNC tourney

Despite going into the Great Norther Conference tournament tied for first in the points standings, the Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis team knew it was an underdog in its bid for its first conference title since 2022.

Buried in the seeding in a number of flights, the Hodags weren’t able to overcome the gap, finishing tied for third in the tournament and tied for third overall following a long day of tennis at the RHS tennis courts and the Hodag Dome. 

Wausau Newman made history, becoming the first team to win a GNC tennis title after entering the conference tournament trailing in the points standings. The Cardinals came into the day two points behind both Rhinelander and Medford, but rode four individual flight wins to the title. Pacelli, which started the day fourth, four points out of first, vaulted to second in the final standings thanks to a pair of wins and two other runner-up finishes. 

“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,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. “We had two opportunities today and didn’t get either of them. But, you know, it’s something to reflect on and 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.” 

It was still a bounce-back season for the Hodags. A year after taking fifth in the conference and failing to have any all-conference honorees, Rhinelander finished two spots better this year and finished in the top three in four of the seven flights. 

Considering that the Hodags needed to play catchup most of the season after falling to Newman 5-2 early in the dual meet schedule, Nichols said he was proud his team was able to work itself into position to be in the hunt for the conference title on the final day.

“It’s hard. This was the goal, and it was quite the ride through the whole dual season,” he said. “Not the way we wanted to end the season, but there’s a lot of highlights, individual highlights, a lot of improved play, and that’s something cool to see, regardless of the team result.”

    (Rhinelander’s Eva Heck plays a point while teammate Willow VanDenHeuvel, left, looks on during the GNC girls’ tennis tournament at the RHS tennis courts Thursday, Sept. 25. Heck and VanDenHeuvel were the runners-up at No. 2 doubles. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander’s two shots at individual conference titles came up short in the bottom two doubles flights. Willow Mutter and Addy Currie were the top seed at No. 3 doubles, but battled through a match tiebreaker in the semifinals against Lakeland’s Ellie Glisczinski and Carmen Istudor, rallying to win 4-6, 6-1, 10-3. The Hodag pair struggled in the final, falling to second-seeded Abby Johnson and Haylee Cisewski of Pacelli, 6-2, 6-2. 

“Three doubles, I think, just kind of had an off day,” Nichols said. “Really no excuse or not saying the other teams didn’t earn it. But I don’t think it was the best tennis of the season. They were able to get through on a match tiebreak win to get to the finals and then just weren’t able to put it together to get the win there.” 

The seeds played out at No. 2 doubles where Willow VanDenHeuvel and Eva Heck rode their second seed into the championship with a pair of straight-set wins in the preliminary rounds, but they fell to top-seeded Chloe Kapitz and Ellie Eckert of Medford, 6-2, 6-3 in the finals.

“Two doubles, I mean, they’re just a very strong, steady team and easy win first round,” Nichols said. “(They were) challenged by the Merrill team, but they not nearly as close as last time and they were able to go through the semifinals into a challenging final where they obviously lost. But played well through it all.”

    Rhinelander’s Taylor McKinney hits a return during the GNC girls’ tennis tournament at the RHS tennis courts Thursday, Sept. 25. McKinney finished third for the Hodag at No. 3 singles. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The only other upset loss, based on the seeding, for Rhinelander came at No. 4 singles where freshman Lucy Evers entered as the second seed but was tripped up by third-seeded Raylin Rothmeier of Medford 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 in the semifinals. Evers bounced back with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Lakeland’s Vella Walden in the third-place match to receive honorable mention at that flight. 

Taylor McKinney staved off Merrill’s Claire Hintz in a second-set tiebreaker in her opening match. After losing to Reagan Abel in the semifinals, McKinney defeated Lakeland’s Katy Janowiec 6-2, 6-4 in the third-place match to secure an all-conference honor at No. 3 singles. 

“That’s really cool to see some underclassmen to compete that compete that well,” Nichols said. “Out of nine teams to finish third, it was pretty awesome. So props to those two. Hopefully they can bring that experience back with them and use it to push themselves and their teammates.”

Rhinelander’s lone upset win of the day came in the quarterfinals at No. 1 singles where Annie Vander Galien knocked off third-seeded Tallula Hahn of Medford 4-6, 6-4, 11-9). Vander Galien was then defeated by Newman’s Addie Schmidt and Lakeland’s Sierra Wallace to settle for fourth in the flight. 

“It was very cool to see Annie win in a very tight match. It was tight the last time and to see her pull through, it was really cool. And a great experience for her. I mean, jumping from JV last year to No. 1 singles, getting the six seed, upsetting a three seed, and then getting that experience, it’s huge for her developmentally,” Nichols said.

Jordan Manske nearly pulled off her own upset at No. 2 singles, but lost a set tiebreaker and a match tiebreaker to Lakeland’s Maelle Lamers in the quarterfinals 7-6 (3), 5-7, 10-4. The Hodag No. 1 doubles team of Maddie Legrey and Teagan Turcotte pushed eventual flight champions Evelyn Herdrich and Molly Merrill to a set tiebreaker in the semifinals before losing in straight sets. They settled for fourth after falling to Pacelli in the third-place match. 

Herdrich and Merrill were the conference’s doubles players of the year by virtue of their championship at No. 1 doubles. Pacelli’s Morgan Matowitz defeated Schmitt in the finals at No. 1 singles to claim conference singles player of the year. 

Rhinelander has one more dual meet remaining before postseason play begins next Monday. The Hodags host Wisconsin Rapids today at the RHS tennis courts in one final opportunity to bolster their postseason resume against a subsectional opponent. 

“Rapids looks like a solid team,” Nichols said. “It’s gonna be a fun match and hopefully we can take some of the things that we learned and have developed through the season and through today to that match, get some good wins, and set us up for a good sub.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].