Polson girls capture ninth straight divisional tennis title
Polson girls tennis team
At Libby this past Thursday and Friday, the Polson tennis teams competed in the NWA Divisional as both sought to defend consecutive title streaks. The top four placers to emerge from the competition would advance to compete at the State A tournament in Missoula this upcoming weekend. Pertaining to Polson Lady Pirate netters, assorted variations of an expression abound that could serve as a rubric that summarizes LP postseason divisional accomplishments – “Seven was heaven, eight was great, but nine would be really fine.”
The Lady Pirates entered the tournament in defense of a streak of eight straight NWA titles behind them. Aligned against them would be aspiring tennis players of an alternative persuasion other than perpetuating Pirate plunder inclusive of a strong Whitefish Lady Bulldogs contingent who were purportedly poised to usurp the crown from the Polson treasure trove bolstered by the transfer of one of their own in former Lady Pirate Hannah Madsen. Energy and effort expended was valiant, but the culmination of the tournament is best articulated by a clever witticism coined by Lady Pirate doubles player Shawna Lenz, who rhetorically quipped, “Did anyone break our streak? Nein!”
The saying is an apropos phonetic double entendre play on words, simultaneously drawing upon the German word for “no” in conjunction with its phonetic correspondence to the numerical English nine, which now happens to denote the number of consecutive NWA divisional tennis titles the Polson girls now hold.
The Lady Pirates will be sending their top pair of singles and doubles players on to state: Marlee Congdon along with Mollie Lemm and Taylor Rost/Shawna Lenz as well as Olivia Hewston/Cassie Carlyle. But it merits pointing out that it was the perseverance of their other teammates who will not be making that trip who played an instrumental role in perpetuating the streak. Though derailed in early going, they would not be deterred. Tessa Nunlist and doubles tandem Kyler Lundeen/Natalee Wheeler got right back on track as they battled their way through the consolation bracket, picking up points with each match as they progressed to the next tier while simultaneously saddling their closest competitor with a setback when their paths collided.
On the boys side of the spectrum, a young Pirate team found themselves in multiple scenarios where the outcome of one match or another could have swung the pendulum in favor of successfully defending their three-time title for a four-peat. One aspect that illustrates just how far the Pirate netters have progressed is that a quartet of these boys players had never played competitive tennis before this season and yet this young team was in contention the whole time for the top prize of divisional hardware.
In singles, both Matt Sitter and Tim Russell made deep runs into the bracket. Russell stretched his final opponent to three sets before being dispatched. The doubles tandem of Kabe Forman-Webster/Jaron Morgan likewise stretched their Libby opponent into three sets before coming out on the short end of that match.
But top tier doubles tandem Colin Kenney/Quaid Harlan and their highly seeded counterparts Cadis Chowning/Tommy Mercer collided in the championship, giving the Pirates a nice one-two punch at the State tournament next weekend.
Northwestern A Divisional
Thursday-Friday, May 14-15, 2015
at Libby
Girls Team Totals – Polson (P) 52, Whitefish (W) 35, Columbia Falls (CF) 31, Libby (L) 13.
GIRLS SINGLES
1st Round – Tessa Nunlist P, def. Dani Hawthorne L, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0; Mollie Lemm P, def. Harley Molchan CF, 6-2, 6-1; Hailey Sapa CF, def. Hunter Tamcke P, 6-2, 6-0; Marlee Congdon P, def. Katie Alspaw L, 6-0, 6-0.
Quarterfinals – Emily Getts CF, def. Nunlist, 6-2, 6-4; Paula Fernandez L, def. Lemm, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Congdon def. Molly Schmit CF, 6-1. 6-0. (Th14May15day1)
Semifinals – Congdon def. Kaylene Hudson L, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Championship – Getts def. Congdon, 6-3, 6-3. (Fr15May15day2)
CONSOLATION (Loser Out)
LO 1st Round – Annika Gordon W, def. Tamcke, 6-2,6-3.
LO 2nd Round – Lemm def. Gordon, 7-5, 6-2; Nunlist def. Makenna Benbrook W, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
LO 3rd Round – Lemm def. Nunlist, 6-2, 6-3.
LO 4th Round – Lemm def. Hudson, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
3rd/4th Place – Fernandez def. Lemm, 6-4, 6-4.
GIRLS DOUBLES
1st Round – Olivia Hewston/Cassie Carlyle P, bye; Taylor Rost/Shawna Lenz P, bye; Heather Luedke/Hannah Madsen W, bye; Kyler Lundeen/Natalee Wheeler P, def. Sydney Grilley/Morgan Stenger CF, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3;
Quarterfinals – Hewston/Carlyle def. Meghan McCallum/Mariah Lingle CF, 6-0, 6-0; Anna Peterson/Katie Fyall W, def. Lundeen/Wheeler, 6-0, 6-1; Rost/Lenz def. Cailyn Ross/Amara McDaniel W, 6-2, 6-0; Luedke/Madsen def. Sam Gilk/Kaylee Flanigan CF, 6-0, 6-0.
Semifinals – Peterson/Fyall def. Hewston/Carlyle, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0; Luedke/Madsen def. Rost/Lenz, 6-3, 6-4.
Championship – Peterson/Fyall def. Luedke/Madsen, 7-5, 6-2.
CONSOLATION (Loser Out)
LO 1st Round – Lundeen/Wheeler def. Jenna Barrick/Cloie Boardner L, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4; McCallum/Lingle def. Martineau/Reny, 6-3, 6-4.
LO 2nd Round – Lundeen/Wheeler def. McCallum/Lingle, 6-1, 6-1.
LO 3rd Round – Hewston/Carlyle def. Grilley/Stenger CF, 6-1, 7-5; Rost/Lenz def. Lundeen/Wheeler, 6-3, 6-3.
3rd/4th Place – Rost/Lenz def. Hewston/Carlyle, 0-6, 6-0. 6-4. (Fr15May15)
Boys Team Totals – Libby (L) 40, Whitefish (W) 39, Polson (P) 38, Columbia Falls (CF) 6.
BOYS SINGLES
1st Round – Cooper Wendt CF, def. Josh Kinzle P, 6-7 (NA), 6-4, 6-1; Tim Russell P, def. Jhamaal Sykes L, 6-4, 6-0; Cody Wood L, def. Scott Sicz P, 6-1, 6-0; Matt Sitter P, def. Kody Bailey L, 6-3, 7-5.
Quarterfinals – Russell def. Nathan Fauth W, 6-4, 6-2; Max Smyley W, def. Sitter, 6-4, 6-1. (Th14May14day1)
Semifinals – Walter Briones L, def. Russell, 6-0, 6-1.
Championship – Briones def. Smyley, 6-2, 6-1. (Fr15May15day2)
CONSOLATION (Loser Out)
LO 1st Round – Cole Turgeon W, def. Kinzle, 7-5, 6-3; Gabby Delorme CF, def. Sicz, 6-3, 7-5.
LO 2nd Round – Sitter def. Turgeon, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
LO 3rd Round – Eric Holdhusen W, def. Sitter, 6-3, 6-4.
LO 4th Round – Holdhusen def. Russell, 0-6, 6-0, 6-4.
3rd/4th Place – Wood def. Holdhusen, 6-1, 6-2.
BOYS DOUBLES
1st Round – Colin Kenney/Quaid Harlan P, bye; Kabe Forman-Webster/Jaron Morgan P, def. Danny Morgan/Garret Caffery CF, 6-1. 6-0; Cadis Chowning/Tommy Mercer P, bye.
Quarterfinals – Kenney/Harlan, def. Jack Brandt/Austin Reese W, 6-4, 6-2; Ethan Potthoff/Thomas Carloss W, def. Forman-Webster/Morgan, 6-0, 6-2; Chowning/Mercer def. Brock Denny/Trevor Wick CF, 6-3, 7-5.
Semifinals – Kenney/Harlan def. Potthoff/Carloss, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Chowning/Mercer def. Jason Brant/Colin Maloney L, 1-6, 6-0, 6-0.
Championship – Kenney/Harlan def. Chowning/Mercer, 7-5, 7-6 (12-10). (Fr15May15)
CONSOLATION (Loser Out)
LO 1st Round – Erik Lauer/Braydan Thom L, def. Forman-Webster/Morgan, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
LO 2nd Round – W def. CF, 6-3, 6-2; L def. W, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
LO 3rd Round – W def. W, 6-3, 6-4; L def. L, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
3rd/4th Place – Brant/Maloney def. Ryan Brown/Chaffin Ross W, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.