Hodag tennis sweeps Wisconsin Rapids

A match against a team on the opposite end of the Wisconsin Valley Conference standings brought an opposite result for the Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team on Friday.

Rhinelander won all seven flights in straight sets as it defeated Wisconsin Rapids 7-0 on the road. The score was reversed last Tuesday when the Hodags hosted WVC-leading Stevens Point. Coach Matt Nichols called it a nice bounce-back win against a team it will see in the WIAA playoffs. 

“Going up against a subsectional opponent, it’s nice to get the 7-0. Like I told the guys after, it was a double win tonight. Not only did we sweep, but we also just played good tennis, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do today,” he said. “It was exciting to see, even against a weaker opponent who didn’t necessarily demand a high level of energy or play, I think we brought that and across the board. We just brought a lot of energy.”

The Hodags had a couple of slow starts in singles, but eventually pulled away to convincing wins. Calvin Loomis was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Foster Michels in the No. 2 flight while Mark Currie turned it on for a 6-4, 6-1 win over Sam Cummins at No. 4 singles. Asher Rivord cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Carter Braund at No. 1 singles while Aidan Lueder won 6-0 6-3 over Kayden Wright at the No. 3 flight.

“On the single side, just consistency, but I think we’re starting to develop a better mid-court game and moving the ball, hitting some better angles, placing it so our opponent can’t get a great shot,” Nichols said. “So it was really cool to see that from the single side.”

The Hodags had three comfortable wins on the doubles’ side. Danek Koniar and Henry Bonardelli were 6-1, 6-3 winners over Lincoln Reaves and Sam Reaves in the top flight. Brayden Barnhill and Kellen O’Malley rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Krosby Tesseline and Chase Fessler. Owen Evers and Roan Childs rounded out the win with a 6-2, 6-0 victory veer Jackson Urbans and Mason Woodward.

“Doubles, we’ve done a lot of work and we’ve really emphasized volleys, net play, again placement of the ball,” Nichols said. “I think all of the doubles teams our hands at the net were great. We were a little more aggressive than I think we normally were, and we were we were putting balls away.”

The win moved Rhinelander to 4-2 against the Wisconsin Valley, which the Hodags will play against during the subsectional round later this month in Wausau. 

Rhinelander was back in action Monday taking on Pacelli in a home GNC match that concluded after press time. The Hodags were in search of a 6-1 victory or better over the Cardinals to take sole possession of first place in the conference heading to next Thursday’s GNC tournament in Rhinelander. 

The Hodags are back in action Friday and Saturday as they host an eight-team invite at the RHS tennis courts. 

“That tourney, it’s a great opportunity, kind of late season where the lineup has definitely settled in, and we can fine-tune every flight, kind of get them prepped for conference tourney and then postseason play,” Nichols said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].