Polson tennis team heads to divisionals following solid finish to regular season
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POLSON — The Polson tennis tuned up its game with three very good dual performances last week, preparing for this week’s Northwestern A Divisional tournament in Kalispell.
The Polson girls swept two duals over Ronan and Whitefish on Tuesday and Thursday, and gave up just one match in a 6-1 win over Libby on Saturday.
Polson didn’t give up a set in their sweep of a young Ronan team on Tuesday. The Lady Pirates were just as impressive in sweeping Whitefish Thursday, though Kendyall and Kayla Rochin had to win a first-set tiebreaker before cruising to a number one doubles victory 7-6 (7-1), 6-0.
On Saturday, Polson’s girls were tough to beat in Libby, though they dropped the number one singles match to state contender Jackie Mee.
“(The) girls continue to play some of the best tennis of the season,” Polson head coach Bob Hislop said. “We lost one match in three duals and that was to last year’s state singles champion. In that loss Kendyall Rochin gave a preview to her abilities in singles with the tennis that provided Jackie Mee with her closest match of the season.”
Kendyall and Kayla Rochin also sewed up the number one seed in doubles for divisionals with a win over Poppen and Valentine of Libby. This is the second consecutive season the Rochin sisters have gone undefeated in Northwestern A conference regular season play.
“Karmen Borchers and Erika Nunlist had another fantastic week, going undefeated without dropping any sets,” Hislop noted. “The two and three girls doubles teams also dominated their competition this week.”
After sweeping Ronan on Tuesday, the Polson boys had a rough go in a 4-3 loss to Whitefish and a 6-1 loss to Libby. But they were actually much more competitive than indicated by the dual scores.
Matt Roberts split his two matches at number one singles in three sets, Shad Giles and Justin Evertz lost their number one doubles match against Libby.
Also going three sets was Reed Hovenkotter in number four singles against Whitefish and Libby, and Christian McCurdy at number two singles against Libby.
“Saturday’s one-sided loss to Libby is a very deceiving result. We led late in the third set of all of four three-set matches and didn’t get a single win out of the four. A 1-6 loss could have very easily been a 5-2 Pirate victory,” coach Hislop said. “Shad Giles and Justin Evertz had a 30-love lead on Evertz’ serve at 5-4 in the third set (but) ended up losing in the third-set tiebreaker. Matt Roberts also lost a heartbreaker 6-4 in the third that was a match for the regular season singles champ of the division. Roberts had a real nice three-set win over Mallums of Whitefish on Thursday night.”
The Polson tennis team will now focus on closing out the post-season, beginning with this week’s Northwestern A Divisional tournament at Kalispell’s FVCC tennis courts Thursday through Saturday. The Class A state tennis tournament will follow in Billings May 27-28.
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.
Whitefish 4, Polson 3
Singles - Matt Roberts, P, def. Joel Mallums, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3; Jake Morrison, W, def. Christian McCurdy, 6-3, 6-3; Francisco Valle, W, def. Andrew Storro, 6-3, 6-0; Reed Hovenkotter, P, def. Cody Ling, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Doubles - Shad Giles/Justin Evertz, P, def. Tyler Schiff/Austin Sattler, 6-3, 6-2; Connor Ellis/Joel Bacher, W, def. Ian Laimbeer/Will Davey, 6-3, 6-4; Nick Jack/Casey Beiser, W, def. Sam Peel/Hayden Congdon, 7-5, 6-4.
Libby 6, Polson 1
Singles - Cree Maloney, L, def. Matt Roberts, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Crawford Dinning, L, def. Christian McCurdy, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5; Andrew Storro, P, def. Zach Schikora, 6-3, 6-4; Mike Wise, L, def. Reed Hovenkotter, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles - Alex Cislo/T.J. Benson, L, def. Shad Giles/Justin Evertz, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); Nate Broden/ Lewis Brossman, L, def. Will Davey/Ian Laimbeer, 6-1, 6-0; Chris Faulkner/Kyle Sweedman, L, def. Hayden Congdon/Sam Peel, 6-2, 7-5.
Girls
Polson 7, Ronan 0
Singles - Jane Probst, P, def. Amber Metzger, 6-2, 6-1; Erika Nunlist, P, def. Taylir Courville, 6-1, 6-3; Karmen Borchers, P, def. Janelle Lauer, 6-1, 6-0; Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. Tashina Barnaby, 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles - Kayla Rochin/Kendyall Rochin, P, def. Katelyn Matkovich/ Darian Blixt, 6-1, 6-0; Kelsie Howell/Mackenzie Clay, P, def. Seri Smith/Brianna Frank, 6-0, 6-0; Audra Engebretson/Jordan Quinn, P, def. Taylir Courville/Sarah Anderson, 6-2, 6-2.
Polson 7, Whitefish 0
Singles - Jane Probst, P, def. Courtney Wilder, 6-1, 6-1; Erika Nunlist, P, def. Kendall Sattler, 6-4, 6-1; Karmen Borchers, P, def. Tara Sullivan, 6-0, 6-1; Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. Emily Blumhardt, 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles - Kayla Rochin/Kendyall Rochin, P, def. Anne Miller/Hannah Weaver, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0; Kelsie Howell/Mackenzie Clay, P, def. Lauren Cain/Lindsey Viscomi, 6-1, 6-0; Jordan Quinn/Audra Engebretson, P, def. Ryan Chauner/Haley Craven, 6-0, 6-2.
Polson 6, Libby 1
Singles - Jackie Mee, L, def. Kendyall Rochin, 6-3, 6-2; Karmen Borchers, P, def. Lindsey Kehn 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Erika Nunlist, P, def. Chelsey Oedewaldt, 6-3, 6-3; Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. Tana Wilson, 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles - Kayla Rochin/Kendyall Rochin, P, def. Anna Valentine/ Audra Poppen, 6-2, 6-4; Kelsie Howell/Mackenzie Clay, P, def. Tawnya Granger/Ashley Shaw, 6-1, 6-1; Jordan Quinn/Audra Engebretson, P, def. Alissa Buti/ Kyla O’Brien, 6-0, 7-5.
