STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander High School boys tennis team won all seven of its matches in straight sets Tuesday when the Hodags swept their home Great Northern Conference dual meet against Lakeland Union High School.

“We felt from the beginning that we could win the match but knew that No. 1 and 2 singles would be the toughest matches,” said RHS head coach Bob Heideman. Also, we thought if we could win all seven it would keep some pressure on Antigo, which has a doubleheader with Lakeland Thursday.”

The only two matches where the Hodags lost more than one game in any set turned out to be in No. 1 and 2 singles with Logan Wild winning the top singles matchup over Aaron Peterson, 6-3, 6-2, and Markus Johnson defeating Vincent Yu, 7-5, 6-2.

The Hodags’ Logan Wild sets up for a return shot close to the net in his No. 1 singles match Tuesday against the Thunderbirds’ Aaron Petersen.

“Logan has had a hard time closing out some opponents this year. (Tuesday) was the exception,” Heideman said. “He took a close 3-3 first set and ran three games. Then he took 2-2 (in the) second set and ran four games. The key was limiting his mistakes and keeping the ball out of the middle. This was a match that will help restore some confidence.”

Heideman noted Johnson was able to score a couple of important points to swing the first set when it was tied 5-5.

“That was after he was up 5-4 and lost a set point and then the game.” Heideman said. “That showed some mental toughness. He built on the momentum of the first set by getting off to a 3-0 lead in the second which he rode to the end of the set.”

At No. 3 singles, Matt O’Melia won his first match of the year in straight sets without losing a game against Aric Van Order.

“Matt O’Melia did not show any signs of this being his first match of the year as he looked in midseason form,” Heideman said. “He controlled the match from beginning to end. It is pretty much what we expected from the reigning three-year No. 3 singles conference champion.”

With the meet victory, the Hodags improved to 5-0 in the GNC and 9-5 overall going into Thursday’s conference action at Phillips.

RHS 7, LUHS 0

Singles
No. 1 — Logan Wild, RHS, def. Aaron Petersen, 6-3, 6-2; No. 2 — Markus Johnson, RHS, def. Vincent Yu, 7-5, 6-3; No. 3 — Matt O’Melia, RHS, def. Aric Van Order, 6-0, 6-0; No. 4 — Russell Benoy, RHS, won by default, 2-0, 2-0.

Doubles
No. 1 — Grant Gilbert-Jared Fabich, RHS, def. Zach Kane-Anthony Holmes, 6-0, 6-1; No. 2 — Connor Young-Jared Haug, RHS, def. Alex Tucker-Josh Kakuschke, 6-1, 6-0; No. 3 — Marshall Bessette-Logan Oestreich, RHS, def. Jayson Krause-Sam Berger, 6-1, 6-1.