Polson girls upset Whitefish for divisional title

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

A point is all it took last weekend, as the Polson girls tennis squad captured the school’s second divisional title with an upset over Whitefish, 46-45.

With the win, the Lady Pirates will send two doubles teams to state this weekend in Miles City, while the boys team will send one team.

Jake Grebetz and Karston Erickson will represent the Pirates, while Cali Hislop, Malika Erickson, Mattea York and Kelsie Delaney will represent the Lady Pirates. Tyler Engebretson and Emily Pyles will also make the trip, as alternates.

Grebetz and Erickson helped lead the boys to a third place finish overall with their divisional doubles title, winning 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals and 6-2, 4-6, and 6-3 in the championship.

“Those guys played a nice final. They lost in the middle set, but made it in the third set,” coach Bob Hislop said.

Things started off pretty well for Polson last Thursday, when Lexi Cline got a nice upset win over Whitefish’s Ellie Opel, and Stephanie Bertsch and Erika Mole also got wins for the Lady Pirates.

“We got off to a really good start Thursday,” said Hislop.

Stefan McCrumb and Steven Roberts got a doubles win for the Pirates in first round competition, too.

In doubles action, Cassie Ward and Anjuli Campbell got a first-round win to help the girls.

“Cassie and Anjuli just had a fantastic tournament. Even though they didn’t make it to state, their wins helped give us the overall divisional title,” Hislop said.

Pyles had a tough time on Friday, though, falling to Mariah Driscoll of Whitefish, which put her against a top Bigfork seed later. Pyles came a match win away from qualifying for state.

“If we had a rough day it was Friday. That was a tough loss for Emily, and she had to face the top-seeded Bigfork player after that,” Hislop said.

But the girls picked it up in doubles action, with Hislop and Erickson dominating, losing only two games in three full matches. They didn’t have to play the championship round because their Bigfork opponents had an injury default.

“This is only the second divisional title in school history, so those girls have a lot to be proud of,” Hislop said.

Meanwhile, Grebetz and Erickson continued to dominate in the quarter finals, winning 6-4, 6-4, while teammates Stefan McCrumb and Steven Roberts lost to a tough Bigfork duo, 6-1, 6-1.

“Stefan and Steven were one match from making it to state, as well, so that was a great effort by them,” Hislop said. “Jake and Karston just did phenomenal the entire tournament.”

Cline and Mole both got wins for the Polson girls in quarterfinal consolation action, while Hislop and Erickson cruised to an easy 6-0, 6-0 win in the second round and 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Ward and Campbell picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win in the quarterfinal consolation to end the season on a high note.

“We knew that if all the right things happened we could win on the girls side. We had a lot of younger girls step up and win earlier in the tournament, which gave us the points we needed,” Hislop said.

The team left for Miles City Tuesday, and stopped over in Bozeman before finishing the 13-hour bus ride Wednesday.