Pirate netters stay hot
POLSON - At this point in the season, there seems to be little that can stop the Polson tennis team. With divisional and state play on the horizon, that is most certainly a good thing.
The girls won all four of their weeks matches, while the boys were victorious in all three of theirs. All the wins, to say the least, were resounding.
"Real good week of tennis," head coach Bob Hislop said.
The girls started with a 6-1 team victory over Columbia Falls. Straight sets was all it took for the No. 1 and 2 singles and doubles teams, while sophomore doubles partners Audra Engebretson and Jordan Quinn came back for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 three set win. The win was the first of four on the weekend for the duo.
"Audra Engebretson and Jordan Quinn went undefeated on the week playing mostly number 3 doubles," Hislop said.
The afternoon brought a tough Dillon opponent into Polson. Senior Jane Probst torched her No. 1 singles opponent 6-0, 6-0, leading the charge as all four singles players won their matches in the 5-2 victory.
"Jane Probst played very clean tennis, barely dropping games in four matches," Hislop said. Probst lost only six games total throughout the week.
The team faced Dillon again Saturday, winning by the same score, 5-2. Singles players again won all four of their matches, led by sophomore Karmen Borchers, who blanked her No. 3 opponent in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
"Karmen Borchers is another sophomore that had a fabulous week at two and three singles," Hislop said.
Engebretson and Quinn, at No. 3 doubles, were the only doubles team to win their match against Dillon both days, winning 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday.
"Although the No. 1 and No. 2 girls' doubles teams lost a pair of matches to the very solid Dillon girls, I thought the tennis was of a very high quality," Hislop said.
Stevensville was the last team to challenge the Lady Pirates on Saturday, and proved no match for the high-powered team. The girls lost two total games of 50 throughout the course of four singles matches. The doubles teams swept as well, sending the team to a 7-0 victory.
"Girls' singles lost one of 16 matches on the week and the boys' won 10 of 12 singles matches," Hislop said.
The boys, who in addition to the singles wins went 3-0 as a team during last week, mimicked the strong play of the girls. A Tuesday match against Columbia Falls saw the Pirates come out on top, 6-1. Senior Christian McCurdy came back for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles while senior Matt Roberts started his week right with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 win.
"Matt Roberts had an outstanding week at number one singles, winning all three of his matches very easily, and Christian McCurdy had a big win over Vadim Zvygelskiy of Columbia Falls on Tuesday," Hislop said.
Columbia Falls was the opponent again Saturday, but the change of venue didn't stop the Pirates, who again won by a 6-1 score.
Junior Justin Evertz blanked his No. 3 singles opponent 6-0, 6-0, while youngsters Hayden Congdon, a freshman, and sophomore Sam Peel took a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 2 doubles.
"Sam Peel, Will Davey, [sophomore] Ian Laimbeer and Hayden Congdon all are playing very competitively in varsity positions," Hislop said of some his boys, who mostly played doubles last week.
The Pirates wrapped up their week with a Saturday match up with Stevensville. The team rolled 6-1, headlined by a nice 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win by Laimbeer and Davey at No. 2 doubles.
"The freshman and sophomore boys that are playing their first year of varsity are really starting to show signs of improvement," Hislop said. "For the boys to win divisionals, they will have to continue to improve and come up big for us."
The Pirates faced Ronan at home Tuesday, but results were not available at press time. Today the team heads to Whitefish before wrapping up the regular season Saturday in Libby.