Hodag tennis drops non-conference tilt at Marshfield

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team fell Tuesday in its second match of the season, losing 5-1 to Marshfield in a non-conference match on the road.

The Tigers took the three singles matches that finished, and the top two doubles flights. Rain ended the dual prematurely, as No. 1 singles was about to go to a match tiebreaker. 

“It wasn’t as close as maybe I thought, but I still think that on a future day, if we play, it would be much more competitive,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said. “We got the win over Everest. We got pushed from Marshfield and I hope they come back hungry for more.”

Rhinelander’s lone win came at No. 3 doubles where freshmen Kellen O’Malley and Sam Loomis cruised in straight sets to 6-1, 6-2 win over Declan Boyack and Roshan Shameem. The Hodag tandem improved to 2-0 on the year after earning a win over D.C. Everest in a match tiebreaker on April 9.

“Score-wise, it’s nice to see, but the play beyond that, it was just very clean — setting up for the ball while taking the right angled shot, being ready for everything. So it was just fun to watch those two play,” Nichols noted.

Rhinelander’s No. 1 doubles team of senior Danek Koniar and freshman Henry Bonardelli came up short in a comeback bid. After dropping the first set to Marshfield’s Justin Franks and Cohen Boyack 6-2, the Hodag pair rallied for a 7-5 win in the second to force a match tiebreaker. The Marshfield tandem prevailed in the race to 10, 10-3.

“Henry and Danek, they really grew together as a team even in the loss,” Nichols said. “For those two, it was really exciting to watch them grow. You know, a young duo — a freshman (and) senior. They haven’t played much together. Henry hasn’t really played much doubles or high school varsity tennis period. So those two I expect to really continue to grow together. Both of them played great games and it was fun to see them adjust and really push the other team.”

Asher Rivord was entering his second straight match tiebreaker at No. 1 singles when the rains came. He and Marshfield’s Beckett Hall had split a pair of set tiebreakers — Rivord winning the first and Hall the second — to force the decider but, by then rain picked up to the point where the courts were no longer playable.

“Asher, he played a great game. It was just such a fun match both ways. Really good rallies, a lot of consistent pace — a mix of slice in top(spin),” Nichols noted. 

The remainder of the Hodags’ singles lost in straight sets. Calvin Loomis fell 6-1, 6-2 to Louis Degotte at No. 2, Aidan Lueder fell 6-2, 6-2 to Alex Koplitz at No. 3 and Brayden Barnhill fell 6-3, 6-0 to Levi Janssen at No. 4.

Sophomores Owen Evers and Braydon Lorman debuted in the lineup at No. 2 doubles for the Hodags on Tuesday, but fell to Parker Kundinger and Dhaarin Patel, 6-1, 6-0.

The loss set up what figured to be an interesting early-season showdown between Rhinelander (1-1, 0-0 Great Northern) at Medford (2-1, 0-0 Great Northern) to open GNC play in Medford Thursday, which concluded after press time for today’s edition. Medford, which edged Wausau East 4-3 on Tuesday, also fell 6-1 to Marshfield April 9 and, like Rhinelander, scored its lone win against the Tigers at No. 3 doubles. 

“It’s going to be a really exciting opportunity to see who is going to own the conference early on, and I’m excited for the boys to go out there,” Nichols said Tuesday looking ahead to that match. 

Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a recap of the match and read a full report in Tuesday’s River News. 

The Hodags are idle this weekend and will host Ashland on Tuesday at the RHS tennis courts. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].