Ronan tennis squad gets taste of divisional tournament competition
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RONAN — Despite a lot of hard work, the young Ronan tennis team struggled against some of the better teams in the west last week.
Ronan’s boys’ and girls’ squads dropped duals against Polson on Tuesday, Corvallis on Tuesday and Whitefish on Saturday. Ronan won just two matches over the three duals — Amber Metzger won 6-2, 6-0 in the number one singles match against Whitefish and number one doubles team Jeff Blixt and Austin Butler won, also against Whitefish.
“Not the kind of week you want to have heading into divisional play,” head coach Gordon Cummings said. “We did not get off the bus to play at Polson and Corvallis is a very strong team that we were ready for and we lost our focus during the Whitefish match.”
But Cummings did notice some bright spots over the week.
“Spencer Sucha had a nice outing at Whitefish. He’s a great kid who goes out and competes every time. Other coaches like what they see in him,” Cumming noted. “Amber (Metzger) played well in Whitefish. She’s a hard-worker and wants to do well.
The coached added that Blixt and Butler played together at number one doubles for the first time and “played really well.”
The Ronan team will head to Kalispell for divisionals Thursday through Saturday, which will be played at FVCC’s outside courts and the indoor courts at The Summit.
“Anything can happen if some team or player gets hot and plays with a lot of confidence,” Cummings said optimistically. “We will just have to see what happens.”
Summary
Boys
Polson 7, Ronan 0
Singles - Matt Roberts, P, def. Austin Butler, 6-0, 6-2; Andrew Storro, P, def. Kyle Yankey, 6-1, 7-5; Jacob Browne, P, def. Spencer Sucha, 6-2, 6-1; Reed Hovenkotter, P, def. Joe Dresen, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles - Shad Giles/Justin Evertz, P, def. Colten Cheff/Hunter Shima, 6-0, 6-1; Ian Laimbeer/Will Davey, P, def. Chase Allen/Jess Smith, 6-1, 6-3; Sam Peel/Hayden Congdon, P, def. Michael Elliott/Payton Adams, 6-2, 6-3.
Corvallis 7, Ronan 0
Singles - Spencer Fehr, C, def. Austin Butler, 6-0, 6-0; Isaac Smith, C, def. Jess Smith, 6-2, 6-0; David Ilgenfritz, C, def. Payton Adams, 6-0, 6-0; Tim Allsop, C, def. Michael Elliott, 6-3, 6-0.
Doubles - Bridger Walczynski/Mitchell Decker, C, def. Jeff Blixt/Colten Cheff, 6-0, 6-1; Cody Lengyl/Levi Pauley, C, def. Hunter Shima/Spencer Sucha, 6-1, 6-1; Luke Lagerquist/Turner Zsupnik, C, def. Joe Dresen/Tallon Fortine, 6-0, 6-2.
Whitefish 6, Ronan 1
Singles - Joel Mallams, W, def. Colten Cheff, 6-1, 6-0; Jake Morisson, W, def. Chase Allen, 6-0, 6-0; Francisco Valle, W, def. Spencer Sucha, 7-5, 6-4; Cody Ling, W, def. Payton Adams, 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles - Jeff Blixt/Austin Bulter, R, def. Tyler Schiff/Austin Sattler, 6-1, 6-3; Connor Ellis/Joel Bacher, W, def. Hunter Shima/Kyle Yankey, 6-0, 6-1; Nick Jack/Casey Beiser, W, def. Joe Dresen/Tallon Fortine, 6-0, 6-0.
