Polson Tennis: Making a racket

KALISPELL — You can’t call the Pirate and Lady Pirate tennis teams “surprisingly good” because they’ve been dominating most of the competition in Class A this season.

However, Polson netters provided a big surprise this weekend when they crashed the AA party at the Flathead Invitational and showed they have some great talent, regardless of classification.

KALISPELL — You can’t call the Pirate and Lady Pirate tennis teams “surprisingly good” because they’ve been dominating most of the competition in Class A this season.

However, Polson netters provided a big surprise this weekend when they crashed the AA party at the Flathead Invitational and showed they have some great talent, regardless of classification.

“Every kid that we took up there to play in Kalispell sort of discovered who they were,” Polson head coach Bob Hislop said. “It was awesome for the future. I told the kids ‘now you know how good you can play’ and while that doesn’t mean somebody will always play their best, they know they can compete with anybody at a high level.”

At the Flathead invite, Polson had five different doubles or singles players reach the championship match in their brackets. Whitney Zimmerman continued to look impressive in what has been a monster season for her, and won the No. 2 girl’s singles bracket. She defeated Missoula Hellgate’s Toni Mischke in thrilling tie-breaker fashion 6-3, 0-6, 1-0 (4). Sam Peel won the No. 3 boys singles bracket by defeating Frenchtown’s Jeremy Zug 6-4, 7-5.

In No. 3 boys doubles action, Polson burned through the bracket and had two teams in the championship match. Hayden Congdon and Dylan McCrumb won the bracket with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over teammates and second-place finishers Reed Hovenkotter and Sam Kinzle.

Karmen Borchers and Audra Engebretson won in the championship match for the No. 3 girls doubles bracket. They took down Missoula Hellgate’s Rachel Reaves and Hannah Willstein for first.

Brady Hislop reached the championship game in the No. 2 singles bracket and took second place to Missoula Hellgate’s Will Bellew.

“The kid that finished first in the tournament could win state in Class A like a breeze,” Hislop said. “In Kalispell, Brady did very well.”

Placing third at the tournament were Ian Laimbeer and Will Davey in the No. 2 boys doubles bracket. Mollybeth Hendrix and Kenzie Clay took third place in No. 1 girls doubles while Karly Rochin and Jordan Quinn took third in No. 2 girls doubles.

“We were thinking going in that a couple would be nice,” Hislop said. “It turned out great and no one placed lower than third in their bracket.”

POLSON TEAMS TOP HAMILTON

POLSON –The Pirates and Lady Pirates had a good day on Tuesday, getting tested by Hamilton but coming out on top. The Polson boys defeated last year’s second-place finisher 6-1 while the girls topped last year’s third-place finishers 4-3.

Sara Robinson’s 6-4, 6-7(8-6), 6-3 victory over Hamilton’s Kim Lamar clinched the dual for the Polson girls. Kyle Wegner picked up a victory in No. 4 singles action, and so did Engebretson and Borchers in No. 2 doubles action and Quinn and Rochin in No. 3 doubles action.

“We hadn’t beaten the Hamilton girls in four to five years,” Hislop said. “They had the returning state champion singles player so that was a nice win for us.”

The Polson boys got singles wins from Peel, Tommy Mercer and Layne Zimmerman while the Laimbeer/Davey, McCrumb/Congdon, Kinzle/Hovenkotter double teams were also victorious.

POLSON DEFEATS WHITEFISH, BIGFORK AND DILLON

POLSON – The Pirates and Lady Pirates continued to roll through Northwestern A Conference play on Friday. The Polson boys picked up a 5-2 victory over Whitefish while the girls swept the Lady Bulldogs, 7-0.

“For our boys, Whitefish is probably the No. 1 challenge for a divisional title,” Hislop said.

In girls action, Zimmerman didn’t lose a game in her 6-0, 6-0 singles victory, and all of Polson’s teams and singles players won their respective matches. The Polson boys also won a 4-0 dual match sweep over Bigfork while the girls downed Dillon 6-1. Hislop led the charge in No. 1 boys single action with a 6-1,6-2 victory over Colter Mahlum.

“Earlier in the year, those two had a very long match,” coach Hislop said. “This time around the match took 40-50 minutes.”

The girls followed their Whitefish match with a 6-1 victory over Dillon. Zimmerman and Robinson didn’t lose a game against their opponents in No. 1 and No. 2 singles action to pave the way.

COMING UP NEXT

Polson gets another good challenge this week, with both teams going down to the Bitterroots to play Corvallis and Hamilton.

“In previous years, it’s been a real bugger playing down there,” Hislop said. “We have not played too well down there, it’s a big challenge for us.”

Hamilton and Corvallis will probably be looking for some payback after losing to the Polson boys earlier this year. The Polson girls are still gunning for an undefeated season in dual matches.

“It’s probably the most competitive tennis we have left on the schedule,” Hislop said.

Polson Boys 6, Hamilton 1

Singles — Ethan Selig, H, def. Brady Hislop, 6-2, 6-3; Sam Peel, P, def. Cody Tredik, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3; Tommy Mercer, P, def. Kendall McDonald, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Layne Zimmerman, P, def. John Walker, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Doubles — Ian Laimbeer/Will Davey, P, def. Reese Isherwood/Craig Weese, 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4; Dylan McCrumb/Hayden Congdon, P, def. Shawn Homyak/Aaron Mead, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); Sam Kinzle/Reed Hovenkotter, P, def. Nick Hudson/Brad Hankel, 6-4, 6-0.

Polson Girls 4, Hamilton 3

Singles — Mary Conwell, H, def. Whitney Zimmerman, 6-1, 6-1; Sara Robinson, P, def. Kim Lamar, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3; Hannah Peterson, H, def. Tegan Bauer, 6-0, 6-0; Kylee Wegner, P, def. Melissa Dowdy, 6-0, 6-1. Doubles — Erica Huppert/Meg Maclean, H, def. Kenzie Clay/Mollybeth Hendrix, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0; Audra Engebretson/Karmen Borchers, P, def. Sadie Della Silva/ Celie Quinlan, 6-0, 6-3; Jordan Quinn/Karly Rochin, P, def. Gina Schmidt/ Beth Bitterman, 6-3, 6-2.

Polson Boys 5, Whitefish 2

Singles — Brady Hislop, P, def. Matteo Barbuti, 6-0, 6-1; Sam Peel, P, def. Austin Sattler, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5; Logan Blades, W, def. Tommy Mercer, 6-1, 7-6, (7-3); Lane Zimmerman, P, def. Holden Roberts, 6-2, 6-3. Doubles — Camp Kenyon/Connor Ellis, W, def. Ian Laimbeer/Will Davey, 6-3, 6-4; Dylan McCrumb/Hayden Congdon, P, def. Casey Beiser/Sean Janni, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Reed Hovenkotter/Sam Kinzle, P, def. Simone Kaell/Kolter Larsen, 6-2, 6-3.

Polson Boys 4, Bigfork 0

Singles — Brady Hislop, P, def. Colter Mahlum, 6-1, 6-2; Tommy Mercer, P, def. Shane Parks, 6-1, 6-1; Layne Zimmerman, P, def. Logan Lamm, 6-0, 6-0. Doubles — Dylan McCrumb/Hayden Congdon, P, def. Gunnar Boose/Avery Folkman, 6-0, 6-0.

Polson Girls 6, Dillon 1

Singles — Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. Janet Moore, 6-0, 6-0; Sara Robinson, P, def. Morgan Peterson, 6-0, 6-0; Kylee Wegner, P, def. Shilo Robinson, 6-0, 6-2; Tegan Bauer, P, def. Josie Brewer, 6-3, 6-1. Doubles — Whitney Southam/Kansas Suenram, D, def. Karly Rochin/Jordan Quinn, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Mollybeth Hendrix/Kenzie Clay, P, def. Holly Hansen/Taryn Judge, 6-0, 6-2; Karmen Borchers/Audra Engebretson, P, def. Caitlyn Feldt/Timber McQuisten, 6-3, 6-0.

Polson Girls 7, Whitefish 0

Singles — Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. Simone Craft, 6-0, 6-0; Sara Robinson, P, def. Sloan Ellis, 6-2, 6-2; Kylee Wagner, P, def. Anna Carpenter, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3; Teegan Bauer, P, def. Caroline Carbo, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Doubles — Karmen Borchers/Audra Engebretson, P, def. Lindsey Viscomi/Megan Danczyk, 6-4, 7-5; Karly Rochin/Jordan Quinn, P, def. Ryan Chauner/ Haley Craven, 6-2, 7-5; Kenzie Clay/Mollybeth Hendrix, P, def. Hailey Vasquez/Mackenzie Thomas, 6-2, 6-1.