Polson tennis gears up for divisionals

By JOHN HEGLIE

Special for the Leader

When it comes to Polson tennis, the boys are three time defending divisional champions and the girls hold eight-straight divisional titles.  

Peak of the podium prizes include 2013 State A boys co-champions, 2012 State A girls champions by the thin skin of one point and a 2008 State A girls championship. 

The Pirate tennis coaching staff would assess the current strength on both boys and girls teams as having half a dozen sound athletes.  The Northwest is one tough division, with the stiffest competition this season coming from Whitefish.   In singles, freshman Bulldog Max Smyley from Whitefish and junior WildKat Emily Getts from Columbia Falls are strong favorites who will be difficult players to beat.

Head coach Bob Hislop acknowledges the presence of some great senior leadership on the Polson team. “Tommy Mercer has been great for the boys, and Taylor Rost has been through a lot this season.”

Both teams have made measurable improvement.  Hislop said, “We’ve been fortunate in the past to have access to an indoor court that was not available this off-season, but our growth from the start of the schedule has been much greater than in seasons past. They’re pretty close to peaking right now, which is kind of the right time.”

The NWA Divisional tournament will be in Libby this year, Thursday through Saturday, May 14-16.

 At Libby last week, Polson tennis teams wrapped up their regular schedule with a pair of conference clashes. 

On the boys side of the spectrum, the Pirates came out on the short side of the summary, but they played some spectacular tennis nail biters. Whitefish and Libby swept the boys singles matches, but not without a major brouhaha before they were vanquished. 

 Matt Sitter and Josh Kinzle took their Libby opponents deep into three sets before the Loggers won those matches, while Scott Sicz pushed hard to force another third set. Against Whitefish, the Polson boys’ #1 and #2 doubles teams prevailed in their matches after forcing third sets.

On the girls’ side of the court, the Lady Pirates swept both team tallies by scores of 5-2. Against Libby, the barnburner match was at #1 singles with Mollie Lemm winning the first set, then getting edged out in the next two 5-7, 3-6.  

The big reversal of fortune was the flip-flop score against Whitefish, which had beaten the Lady Pirates three weeks earlier on their home court.  Polson flipped the script in singles matches, going 3-1 instead of 1-3 during their previous encounter.  The battle royale was at #1 doubles, where the tandem of Cassie Carlyle/Olivia Hewston teamed up to tangle with former Lady Pirate Hannah Madsen and her new teammate, splitting the first two sets before prevailing in the third to win this round of the rematch. 

BOYS

Whitefish 5, Polson 2

Singles – Max Smyley W, def. Tim Russell, 6-3, 6-3; Nathan Fauth W, def. Matt Sitter, 6-4, 6-2; Eric Holdhusen W, def. Scott Sicz, 6-2, 6-2; Cole Turgeon W, def. Josh Kinzle, 6-1, 6-3.

Doubles – Tommy Mercer/Cadis Chowning P, def. Thomas Carloss/Ethan Potthoff 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-3;    Quaid Harlan/Colin Kenney P, def. Chaffin Ross/Ryan Brown, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0; Jack Brandt/Austin Reese W, def. Jaron Morgan/Kabe Forman-Webster 6-2, 6-4.

Libby 4, Polson 3

Singles – Walter Briones L, def. Tim Russell, 6-0, 6-3; Cody Wood L, def. Matt Sitter, 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-3; Kody Bailey L, def. Scott Sicz, 6-1, 7-5; Jhamaal Sykes L, def. Josh Kinzle, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3.

Doubles – Quaid Harlan/Colin Kenney P, def. Jason Brant/Colin Maloney, 6-4, 6-1; Cadis Chowning/Tommy Mercer P, def. Ryan Nagle/Gabe Peck, 6-0, 6-2; Kabe Forman-Webster/Jaron Morgan P, def. Gio Cano/Rayson Arnold, 6-3, 6-2.

GIRLS

Polson 5, Whitefish 2

Singles –  Marlee Congdon P, def. Keara Delaney, 6-2, 6-0; Mollie Lemm P, def. Makenna Benbrook, 6-3, 6-1;  Annika Gordon W, def. Hunter Tamcke, 6-2, 6-0; Sarah Konen P, def. Holly Hileman, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles – Cassie Carlyle/Olivia Hewston P, def. Hannah Madsen/Heather Luedke 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3; Katie Fyall/Anna Peterson W, def. Shawna Lenz/Taylor Rost, 7-5, 6-1; Natalee Wheeler/Kyler Lundeen P, def. Cailyn Ross/Amara McDaniel, 6-1, 6-4. 

Polson 5, Libby 2

Singles –  Kaylene Hudson L, def. Mollie Lemm, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Marlee Congdon P, def. Dani Hawthorne, 6-0, 6-0; Paula Fernandez L, def. Kyler Lundeen, 6-1, 6-1; Madison Reilly P, def. Katie Alspaw, 6-2, 6-4.

Doubles – Shawna Lenz/Taylor Rost P, def. Jenna Barrick/Cloie Boardner, 6-1, 6-1; Cassie Carlyle/Olivia Hewston P, def. McKenzie Cosgriff/Laurynn Lauer, 6-0, 6-0; Natalee Wheeler/Hunter Tamcke of Polson won by forfeit.