Ronan tennis splits against Bigfork

RONAN — Weather limited the Ronan tennis teams to only one match last week and while the teams split against Bigfork, both the Chiefs and Maidens looked tough on the court.

The Chiefs dominated Bigfork’s boys 5-1 thanks to five straight-sets wins. Payton Adams, who led Ronan’s golfers in Deer Lodge on Saturday, handled Shane Parks with relative ease in his first action of the year, winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

RONAN — Weather limited the Ronan tennis teams to only one match last week and while the teams split against Bigfork, both the Chiefs and Maidens looked tough on the court.

The Chiefs dominated Bigfork’s boys 5-1 thanks to five straight-sets wins. Payton Adams, who led Ronan’s golfers in Deer Lodge on Saturday, handled Shane Parks with relative ease in his first action of the year, winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

“I was interested to see what he would do and he played very well,” head coach Gordan Cummings said.

Moving down a slot from where he’s spent most of the year, Kyle Yankey made the most of it at No. 3 singles, running away with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Logan Lamm. Spencer Sucha did the same at No. 4, trouncing Avery Folkman 6-2, 6-0.

In doubles action, Tyler Anderson and Daniel Aylesworth continued their run of success, defeating Parks and Lamm 6-4, 6-2.

“They’re only sophomores, but they’re really coming along,” Cummings said. “It’s going to be very exciting to watch them for the next couple of years.”

Former No. 4 singles player Ronny Cullis teamed with Joey Dresen for a convincing 6-0, 6-1 win against Folkman and Gunner Boose.

“When you have a group of guys who can play in several spots, on any given day, one can beat the others,” Cummings said. “We’ll see where they’re at come state time.”

At No. 1 singles, Hunter Shima fell, but made Colter Mahlum work hard for the win in a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. The Maidens, meanwhile, won their matches in closer fashion than the boys, but fell as a team 4-2. Both doubles teams have been in a groove in recent weeks and they continued rolling against Bigfork. Katelyn Matkovich and Taylor Courville, at No. 1 doubles, rebounded from a setback in the second set to capture a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Alanis Stallknecht and Shelby Sloggins, while the No. 2 doubles team of Darian Blixt-Leo and Seri Smith won the final two sets of their meeting with Brooke Bonner and Mariah Bradstreet to earn a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision.

“Both teams struggled that day and I had to get them focused on certain things,” Cummings said. “Katelyn and Taylor just had a letdown in the second set and Darian and Seri started slow. Both of them should have won in straight sets and we talked about fixing that before divisionals.”

In singles action, Amber Metzger pushed Kianna Wicklund to the limit in two sets before falling 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 and Brianna Frank had a tough time getting traction in a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to McKinze Shults.

“They had one volley over 30 strokes, once around 51,” Cummings said. “It was just one of those matches. Their coach said Amber is a backboard and just returns everything.”

Hannah Bird Rattler hung in against Makenna Gembala before being downed 6-3, 6-3 and Hannah Kiehn took a couple games off of Madison Fraley, but was defeated 6-0, 6-2.

“Hannah Bird Rattler has been playing good tennis as a freshman and both Hannahs played well against juniors,” Cummings said.

The Chiefs and Maidens have a busy week ahead of them, with a match Thursday against Eureka and another on Saturday versus Corvallis. The Chiefs and Maidens also battled Loyola on Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time.