Hodag tennis gets help in GNC title race, goes 1-2 in non-conference matches

While the Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team was busy playing some tough competition Monday and Tuesday, it got a bit of good news in its quest for a record-setting 12th consecutive Great Northern Conference title.

Medford wrapped up the dual meet portion of its GNC schedule with a 5-2 victory over Ashland on the road Tuesday. While that moved the Raiders (3-1, 40 points) 10 markers ahead of the Hodags (3-0, 30 points) for first in the GNC, it also opened the door for the Hodags to take sole possession of first in the conference heading into the GNC tournament May 21 in Rhinelander. 

The result was a net four-point gain for the Hodags over Medford, who defeated the Oredockers 7-0 in Rhinelander April 21. The conference awards two points per individual match victory during dual meet play. 

The Hodags have one more conference dual remaining, against last-place Pacelli. That meet has been moved up a day to Monday, May 11, and should the Hodags come out of the home dual with a 6-1 win or better, they will be in first by themselves heading into the conference tournament.

“I think realistically, and just looking at the conference, if we want to really help ourselves out it has to be a 7-0 win. I think it’s very feasible, but, you know, we still have to play and we still have to earn it,” Hodag coach Matt Nichols said Tuesday night, prior to learning the Medford-Ashland result. 

Nichols’ team had just dropped a match against Wisconsin Valley Conference-leading Stevens Point in non-conference play 7-0 Tuesday at the RHS tennis courts. That followed a very competitive day Monday at D.C. Everest where they lost to Eau Claire North 5-2 and defeated the hosting Evergreens 4-3 in a non-conference triangular.

The Hodags had plenty of close matches on Monday. Six matches were decided in tiebreakers and another four matches had at least one set either end in a tiebreak or go the full 12 games.

All seven flights played in at least one tight match, which Nichols said is good for the development of his relatively young squad. 

“We always love the competitive matches,” he said. “That’s when you grow the most. You get pushed, you have to adapt, you try new strategies, you implement new skills you learned in practice, and then mentally just being able to sustain a tight match is essential to everyone’s game. So it was a great day of good competitive tennis.”

Calvin Loomis saw both of his matches end in tiebreakers, and he won them both as the only Hodag player to go 2-0 on Monday. He started with a hard-fought 6-2, 5-7, 13-11 win over Eau Claire North’s Jackson Norrish and then rallied for a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-8 win over Everest’s Keagan Carlson. 

“He’s gotten pretty dang good at him,” Nichols said of Loomis’ proficiency in tiebreakers. “It’s great for Calvin. He’s running a great season right now, got two more close wins from good quality opponents. Looking forward to more where that’s coming from.”

Rhinelander’s only other win against the Huskies also came in a tiebreak, as Roan Childs and Owen Evers prevailed at No. 3 doubles over Bodhi White and Tristan Marek, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 10-8. Aidan Lueder and Mark Currie dropped match tiebreaks at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively. 

Rhinelander prevailed in the first three singles flights against the Evergreens. Asher Rivord won 7-5, 6-4 over Tim Waller at No. 1, Loomis won at No. 2, and Lueder was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Yasen Lee in the third flight. Brayden Barnhill and Kellen O’Malley secured the point the Hodags needed in doubles to clinch the dual, defeating Quinten Schommer and Donnie Xiong, 6-4, 7-5 in the second flight. 

“Across the singles line, I think the consistency is definitely coming along,” Nichols noted. “No. 4 singles, we just were outgunned a little bit in some of those matches, but either way, the competition was there and the adaptability has been a huge stress. One thing, they were adapting to the weather. It was a windy day, but also just adapting to new strategies. Good players are constantly changing. If something doesn’t work, they’re constantly moving it. So if we’re up, we have to constantly adjust our game as our opponent does. It was cool to see the singles be able to do that. 

“The doubles (are) definitely coming along with some positioning, cleaning up some technical strokes, and then just getting some reps in with some new pairings. Those pairings are looking solid. We’ll see where they go, but pretty excited to see these different combinations playing out at Nos. 2 and 3.”

The Hodags ran into a more of a stern test at home Tuesday against a SPASH team led by RHS alum Mike Messerli, who contributed to the Hodags’ conference championship streak as the coach of record for the program in 2015. The Panthers won all seven matches in straight sets.

“They were obviously strong,” Nichols said. “I think they’ve had a very similar team for the last two years, a lot of returners, a lot of experienced varsity players. We’ve seen some similar level of play and the Green Bay tourney and some in Wausau, but it’s still tough to play an opponent who’s just better skilled, but we went in there and I think that the big thing was just playing your best game possible and trying to grow your game, and I think the guys did that overall.”

Rivord and Currie had the most competitive matches, taking six games each on Tuesday. Rivord fell 6-4, 6-2 to Mitchell Thielman in the top flight while Currie forced a first set tiebreaker against Corbin Osegard at No. 4 singles before falling 7-6 (4), 6-0.

O’Malley and Barnhill had the most competitive match in doubles falling 6-0, 6-4 at the No. 2 flight to Ian Ekstrand and Donovan Bannach.

The Hodags continue their non-conference stretch this afternoon at Wisconsin Rapids. The Raiders are at the opposite end of the Valley standings as Stevens Point, and Nichols said he hoped to use the match as a momentum build going into next Monday’s pivotal GNC match against Pacelli.

“It’ll be nice to get another subsectional opponent in the mix, (we’ll) play a team that we can definitely compete with and hopefully beat, and then just give us a little more confidence going into that Pacelli match,” he said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].