Polson tennis teams net surprise wins over Libby
By Trent Makela / Leader Staff
The Polson tennis teams picked up a couple of pleasantly surprising wins last Friday, sweeping the host Libby Loggers with a 4-3 win in girls' action and a 5-2 boys' victory.
The girls team was led by victories from all three of their doubles teams, as well as from number four singles player Jenni Reilley. Their top doubles team of Cali Hislop and Malika Erickson made short work of Libby's Riley Dinning and Nichole Newman, winning 6-3, 6-2. The second team of Cassie Ward and Maddie Grebetz faced a tougher test, but downed Loggers Margeaux Zwang and Anna Valentine 6-2, 7-5. Reilley topped Libby's Lindsey Kehn, 6-0, 6-4 for her win.
"Their girls are a lot better than their boys' team," Polson head coach Bob Hislop said. "We swept the doubles for the girls and that is going to be a strength for us all season long. We have kids who are on the edge of being dominant singles players, but the state is so stacked this year that we put all those players in doubles to maximize our chances at state."
The short-handed Polson boys' squad came away with their convincing victory by winning three of the four singles matches and two of the three doubles matchups.
"Our boys played really well, considering we had three players off for training violations," Hislop said. "We had five first-year players on varsity against Libby and we got two wins — one in singles and one in doubles."
Number one singles player Karston Erickson picked up a big win for the team against Libby's Steven Hauck, a state qualifier from last season. Erickson, a sophomore, was a state qualifier himself last season in doubles.
"He plays smart and he's a big kid who doesn't over-hit the ball," Hislop said. "That's a tough combination to find."
Number one doubles team Seth Hovenkotter and Stefan McCrumb picked up a big win of their own, topping Libby's Cree Maloney and Nate Brodey 6-3, 6-2.
"We still need to work on the basics of serving and returning serve if we want to stay competitive with the conference favorites like Whitefish," Hislop added.
The Pirates' Saturday matches against Hamilton and Corvallis were rescheduled due to cold, wet conditions. Hislop was not sure when they would be able to reschedule. His teams will return to their scheduled action when they host Bigfork and Stevensville this Saturday.
Girls - Polson 4, Libby 3
SINGLES - Jackie Mee, L, def. Mattea York, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; Veronika Cislo, L, def. Jane Probst, 6-2, 6-1; Audra Poppen, L, def. Sarah Keeble, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; Reilley, P, def. Kehn, 6-0, 6-4. DOUBLES - Hislop/Erickson, P, def. Dinning/Newman, 6-3, 6-2; Ward/Grebetz, P, def. Zwang/Valentine, 6-2, 7-5; Kayla Rochin/Kelsie Jones, P, def. Katie Horelick/Cassi Moog, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).
Boys - Polson 5, Libby 2
SINGLES - Erickson, P, def. Hauck, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Hunter Sheffield, L, def. Tyler Engebretson, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Shad Giles, P, def. Cyrus Maloney, 6-3, 6-0; Shawn Medland, P, def. Cody Ercanbrack, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. DOUBLES - Hovenkotter/McCrumb, P, def. Maloney/Brodey, 6-3, 6-2; TJ Lipko/Jonah Barta, P, def. Lewis Brossman/Levi Edwards-Myslicki, 6-3, 6-2; Jesse Ramos/Joe Framont, L, def. Christian McCurdy/Michael York, 6-2, 6-0.