Polson tennis sees early season success

Polson High School tennis coach Bob Hislop, like many coaches, expresses preseason optimism about both of his respective teams but Hislop knows of what he speaks and his enthusiasm is more than preseason rhetoric.

Hislop is especially excited about the potential of his Lady Pirates’ tennis team and having Kyler Lundeen, a player he calls “one of the top players in the state” as one of the primary reasons he is optimistic about his team’s and individual chances to qualify for state and add another Divisional title to the Pirates’ tennis team’s growing trophy case.

The Lady Pirates proved Hislop’s preseason excitement in their first two matches where they hosted Libby, Hamilton, Loyola, and Corvallis Friday and Saturday at Linderman Elementary tennis courts.

“Kyler is quicker than she was last year, did some work and was able to get it taken care of,” Hislop said. “Tennis-wise, she put a bunch of work in the off season. Kyler is a year older. She had rough results and thought she could turn it around. She has matured and is just a good kid. If I were a parent, to have her as a senior leader would be pretty nice.”

Another player that has really shined was Shea McGuinness.

“Shea is very handy and she had a fantastic weekend,” Hislop said. “Our girls defeated the highest returning players in Class A singles last year and the victory against Corvallis was a big, big win. Shea is mentally mature and probably one of the most improved players on the team in that regard. We’ve been working on her mental toughness and she’s done a great job on her back steps as well.”

Other players Hislop highlighted were Berkley Ellis and freshman Qia Harlan. Harlan, who is paired with Lundeen as the No. 1 doubles, has become a dynamic combination of doubles as the interesting combination could potentially become a threat in Divisionals and possibly at State.

“Berkley has taken 130 hours of lessons from us in the summer, 70 hours last year and 60 the year before that,” Hislop said. “She right now is just flying as one of the No. 1 doubles. She was undefeated (this week) and there were several other kids that I had in the lineup and we had mixed results.”

There are a lot of variables that go into Hislop and the team choosing their double’s partners. In most cases, good friends off the court don’t necessarily translate into success on it, according to Hislop.

“I found nine times of ten best friends (off the court) don’t work,” Hislop said. “Sometimes kids that don’t spend a ton of time together outside the court work well and because this is a freshman and a senior team, they work well together at doubles.”

Hislop and the Lady Pirates have several players that are committed to the game of tennis.

“We have other girls (on our team) that are really committed (to the game) and the expectations are through the roof and that makes it a little tougher dealing with the pressure (of high expectations) and stuff like that,” Hislop said. “We have some kids (on our team) that can’t get enough of tennis and they just love the game. They play all of the time and if several players get at it, they can do it.”

Pirates’ tennis continues to improve

The Polson Pirates boy’s tennis team has shown a great deal of promise in their opening week of competition, according to HIslop.

The Pirates won two out of their three duals but lost the No. 1 singles and doubles match this week.

“That is something that we are going to have to correct (moving forward) if you are going to win Divisionals and compete against the upper-level state competition,” Hislop said.

Against Corvallis, the Pirates tennis team faced one of the top singles and doubles players in the state.

“Corvallis is really tough, they were the No. 1 singles teams and probably have one of the best players in the state,” Hislop said.

Despite losing his match, Hislop credited Johnny Moore with playing some good matches.

“Johnny played some really nice matches and that was one of the upsides in the match,” Hislop said.

Hislop is also excited about his team’s potential with four of his eight first players being sophomores.

“We are very athletic and those boys are all playing in other sports,” Hislop said. “Right now, the girls are ahead of the boys but that doesn’t always stay that way,” Hislop said.

Hislop said he “enjoys” coaching a young team with a lot of upsides.

“It’s actually a really nice situation and hopefully we continue to feed younger kids in,” Hislop said. “The kids realize their potential after they do the work and we have five freshmen right now that are really close to playing at the varsity level. We may not have some kids at meets because of spring vacation and band festivals so we can have (the younger kids) fill in and you don’t feel like you are losing a bunch of talent.”

Still, Hislop acknowledges his team has a long way to go but he and the Pirates have experienced this before and have translated it into success.

“We have only had nine days of practice before the first match,” Hislop said. “We’ve put in lots of work on doubles, who is going to play and where they are going to play. When we get tightened up, we will have a good group of athletes that just has to translate their ability to the tennis part of it and let their athleticism carry them.”

The Polson Lady Pirates tennis team will face Dillon on April 6 at Linderman Elementary tennis courts. Polson will then play Whitefish and Dillon Saturday at Linderman Elementary School tennis courts.

Both the boys and girls will continue to aim to capture another divisional titles in the Polson trophy case, something that Hislop has built a reputation for doing over the past decades as well as individual and state contenders.

BOYS

Polson 4, Corvallis 3

SINGLES – Marius Godard, C, def. Johnny Moore, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Kendal Forman-Webster, P, def. Jaymark Ledre, 6-2, 7-5; Trevor Schultz, P, def. Cody Hentstridge, 6-2, 6-2; Anton Lefthand, P, def. Matt Powell, 6-2, 6-2.

DOUBLES – Kaiden Forman-Webster/Joe McDonald, P, def. Gabe DeLeo/Caleb Warnken, 6-1, 6-1; Sam Schultz/Carson McDaniel, P, def. Darius Nisly/Jason Bay, 6-2, 6-1; Ryan Hubbard/Preston Griffin, C, def. Alex Mausshardt/McKauly Morrison, 7-6 (2), 6-3. (Sa24Mar18)

Polson 7, Libby 0

SINGLES – Johnny Moore, P, def. Sebastian Sanders, L, 6-2, 6-2; Kaiden Forman-Webster, P, def. Zach Carter, L, 6-0, 6-2; Kendal Forman-Webster, P, def. Ryker McElmurry, L, 6-0, 6-0; Anton Lefthand, P, def. David Patterson, L, 6-1, 6-1 (default).

DOUBLES – Carson McDaniel/Sam Schultz, P, def. Patterson/Zach Morrison, L, 6-0, 6-1; Trevor Schultz/Joe McDonald, P, def. Cayman Lee/Colton Halvorson, L, 6-0, 6-0; McKauly Morrison/Alex Mausshardt, P, def. n/a, L, 6-2, 6-2 (default).

Hamilton 5, Polson 2

SINGLES –Alex Raymond, H, def. Kaiden Forman-Webster, P, 6-0, 6-2; Ray Allison, H, def. Sam Schultz, P, 6-3, 6-0; Sam Toejes, H, def. McDonald, P, 6-0, 0-6, 7-6 (7-2); Kjang Truang, H, def. McKavly Morrison, P, 6-0, 6-0.

DOUBLES – Cody Kirkbride/Rio Hammond, H, def. Moore/McDaniel, P, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5; Kendal Forman-Webster/ Trevor Schultz, P, def. Will Torres/Phil Melnarik, H, 6-2, 6-4; Mausshardt/Lefthand, P, def. Alex Jung/Bodie Hansen, H, 6-1, 6-4.

GIRLS

Polson 6, Corvallis 1

SINGLES – Shea McGuinness, P, def. Olivia Fehr, 6-3, 6-1; Berkely Ellis, P, def. Kristen Saturday, 6-3, 6-0; Josie Peterson, P, def. Milly Gale 6-4, 6-2; Megan Rost, P, def. Jen Watt, 7-5, 6-4.

DOUBLES – Kyler Lundeen/ Qia Harlan, P, def. Connie Watt/Claire Pickett, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0; Elizabeth Violett/Sharmaine Zempel, P, def. Madeline Deled/Megan Kirkland, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Danielle Coates/Christina Wedkamp, C, def. Briala Forman/Josie Salois, 6-2, 6-1.(Sa24Mar18)

Polson 5, Libby 2

SINGLES – McGuinness, P, def. Isabelle Martineau, L, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (3); Ellis, P, def. Ciera Lucas, L, 6-2, 6-1; Sharmaine Zempel, P, def. Staryln Mayberry, L, 6-1, 7-5; Abigail Creighton, L, def. Briala Forman, P, 6-2, 6-2.

DOUBLES – Kyler Lundeen/Qia Harlan, P, def. Jessika Jones/Marissa Wood, L, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; Morgan Snyder/Madison Snyder, L, def. Josie Peterson/Elizabeth Violett, P, 6-2, 6-3; Megan Rost/Ara Mercer, P, def. Elise Erickson/Ivy Pierce, L, 6-2, 6-3. (Fr23Mar18)

Polson 7, Hamilton 0

SINGLES – Lundeen, P, def. Sarah Triuh, H, 6-1, 6-1; Ellis, P, def. Holly Mahon, H, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 7-5; Harlan, P, def. n/a, default; Mercer, P, def. N/A, default.

DOUBLES – McGuinness/Peterson, P, def. Colleen May/Mia Simatovie, H, 6-3, 6-2; Violett/Zempel, P, def. Lauren Kinzey/Claire Mathews, H, 6-0, 6-0; Rost/Forman, P, def. n/a, forfeit (Fr23Mar18)