Polson girls start year with a win

POLSON — The Polson boys and girls tennis teams both came out swinging against Whitefish and Corvallis this past weekend. The weather was bad, so bad the late matches were cancelled mid-way, but Polson head coach Bob Hislop said both teams came away with plenty to be proud of.

The Polson girls came away with the most success on the scoresheets. Burying Whitefish 9-0, a Lady Pirate team that lost four key seniors, including senior Cali Hislop, to injury proved it can still compete in both singles and doubles.

The individual standout performance goes to Polson junior Jane Probst, who showed improvement and early-season composure to beat out Whitefish’s Kate Klundt in the top singles match.

It was the first time Probst  downed Klundt and she did it in two sets. Coming from behind to win the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, Probst rode the momentum to a 6-3 victory in the second to take the match.

Hislop said Probst started earning the win in the off season, sculpting her game in tournaments and on the practice court.

“That’s just the kind of thing we want to see,” Hislop said. “We don’t want to quit when we’re behind. She sort of established herself as one of the best players in the conference with that kind of win. She did a very nice job.”

She wasn’t the only Lady Pirate to succeed. Alexa Cline, Kelsie Howell, Sara Phillips-Keeble all won their matches in two sets as well.

On the doubles side, the Polson girls were just as dominant. The Rochin sisters made their mark at the No. 1 doubles spot, earning 6-0 and 6-3 set wins to take the match.

It was the first time Kayla Rochin, a junior, and her sophomore sister, Kendyall played doubles together in high school. And they were plenty enthusiastic.

“I liked it,” Kendyall said. “It’s easier to talk to your sister. If she yells at me it doesn’t make me mad and someone else might.”

“She’s gotten used to it over the years,” Kayla said jokingly.

The sisters made it known they have composure in the tougher matches when they fell behind early against Corvallis’ top doubles duo.

Falling behind 4-6 in the first set, the Rochins battled back to win 6-3 and 6-4 in the second sets.

A strong performance by Phillips-Keeble led her to a 7-0 start against Corvallis’ Lexi Sangster before the match was called due to weather. The Polson team had a 3-2 advantage at the time the match was called.

All in all, Hislop is optimistic about the direction his girls are headed.

“I was really pleased with the girls. They sort of let everybody know that we’re not done being good at tennis and thet we can still compete,” he said.   

Coming off their first ever state championship the year before, the Lady Pirates have set a high standard for themselves.

The Polson boys didn’t come away with an overall win against Whitefish, losing 5-2 in the end and falling behind to Corvallis by the same score at the time the dual was called for weather, but there were still positives, Hislop said.

“I think Whitefish and Corvallis are two of the best four teams in the state,” Hislop said. “Even though we got beat, I’m happy with where we’re at and happy with how we played.”

A narrowly lost doubles match at the top spot was one such positive. Polson seniors Tyler Engebretson and Kyle Cooper took the first set from Whitefish’s Zachariah Diester and Matt Whitehead 7-6, but just let the second and third sets slip away 6-4 both times.

Another close loss at the No. 2 singles spot by Polson senior Seth Hovenkotter was also something to go on, Hislop said.

“He played really, really well,” Hislop said.

At the top singles spot, junior Shad Giles got a tough draw in Whitefish’s Matt Harris, who had taken a doubles state championship the year before.

After the two set loss  by scores of 6-0 and 6-1, Giles was still in pretty good spirits.

“I had a lot of fun. I just didn’t return well today. It’s just mental. I think I learned a lot playing him - he’s a lot better than me. I have a lot of respect for him,” Giles said.        

Taking away a learning experience, Giles played at the No. 1 doubles spot with Polson senior Stefan McCrumb against Corvallis to edge a 6-2 win in the first set before the match was called for weather.

At the third doubles seed, Polson’s Justin Evertz and Andrew Storro fought for a three-set win against Corvallis and for both of their first wins as varsity athletes.

“To win a match the first year as varsity tennis players is really cool,” Hislop said.

The task of Hislop and his boys will be to see who’s playing where, still shifting the lineup to find the right fit. Once they do, they should be on the right track, Hislop said.

“Once we get out of the kind of competition we had this weekend, we’ll get some wins and build some confidence,” he said.

Polson hosts Bigfork and Stevensville on Friday, then Libby and Hamilton on Saturday.