Last year’s win total already reached with Everest victory

MEDFORD GIRLS TENNIS

Two singles wins and two doubles wins put a seventh notch into the win column Tuesday for the Medford girls tennis team, already tying the Raiders with their win total from 2022.

In their 12th dual of the fast-moving season, Medford finally played on the home courts and earned a 4-3 non-conference win over D.C. Everest to improve to 7-5. Success earned in the dual could be helpful down the road as the two teams will see each other again in the Oct. 2 WIAA Division 1 subsectional at Rhinelander.

Medford head coach Jake Bucki continued to eye up the potential for a number-one doubles pairing of Masaeda Krug and Aubrey Ruesch in Tuesday’s dual. They improved to 2-2 together with a quick and dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Makenna Kampmann and Brianna Cook.

Grace Holmes and Indya Mann breezed to a 6-1 win in the first set and kept the momentum on their side for the most part while winning the second set 6-3 against Everest’s Sandra Brierton and Kaylee Dunow in the number-two doubles match. The Raiders nearly made it a sweep in doubles play, but Everest’s Shela Lee and Emily Ringlewski won the 10-point match tiebreaker 10-8 over Medford’s Madison Clarkson and Hannah Dahl. Everest won the first set 7-6, while Clarkson and Dahl evened things up with a 6-3 win in set two.

Senior Jaylin Machon continued her strong play, rolling to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kylie Koch at number-three singles. Sophomore Makenna Tlusty also continued her solid play with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ruth Xiong in flight four. Tlusty won six straight games after falling behind early in both sets.

Marcy Razink moved up to the top spot in Medford’s singles lineup and was beaten by Everest’s Mila Bublick in a close one 6-2, 3-6, 10-5. Everest’s Brooklyn Costa was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Raider Morgan Strebig at number-two.

The Raiders will be in Wausau today, Thursday, to face Newman Catholic at 4:30 p.m. in Great Northern Conference play. Medford is back at home Tuesday for a 2 p.m. triangular that will include a GNC matchup with defending champion Rhinelander and a non-conference dual with Bloomer. Columbus Catholic is in town Sept. 7 for another 4:30 p.m. GNC dual.

3-3 at Altoona

The Raiders got a full weekend of six dual meets in during the Altoona Invitational, earning a 3-3 split in those duals against some solid competition.

Medford went 2-1 on Saturday with a pair of 5-2 victories. The first of which came against Osceola. The meet came down to third-set tiebreakers, where the Raiders went 3-0.

“I took some time to talk to the ladies about the importance of focus in tiebreakers and some tiebreak strategies throughout the week, knowing we would have some close matchups with a few teams,” Bucki said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how we handled the pressure of tiebreakers, going seven for eight in set or match tiebreaks throughout the weekend. This speaks volumes to the attitude and effort this team has shown in practice and matches.”

Holmes and Mann had them most tense tiebreaker. They took the first set in the number-one doubles match 6-3, but Osceola’s Brooke McDonald and Olivia See got set two 6-2 to force a 10-point tiebreaker. Holmes and Mann outlasted Osceola’s team 13-11 to win the match.

Then, at number-two doubles, Clarkson and Tlusty took a match tiebreaker 10-4 over Addison Seelnacht and Jenna Bents. The Raiders took the first set 6-4, but Osceola won the second 6-4. Razink and Dahl completed Medford’s doubles sweep with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Val Valento and Belle DeRosier in flight three.

Strebig fell 6-3 to Olivia Spiegel in the first set at number-three singles, but she rallied with a 6-4 second-set win and took the tiebreaker 10-3. Machon was a 6-4, 6-2 in flight four over Olivia Cunningham.

Osceola’s top two players were winners over Medford’s best. Emma Stroshane beat Krug 6-3, 6-1 in flight one and Mazie Gillespie was a 6-2, 6-4 in flight two over Ruesch.

“Osceola was probably the most tense matchup we had,” Bucki said. “The weather did a complete turnaround from Friday to Saturday and adjusting to cool temps and a strong wind was a necessity to find success. Pulling off three tiebreak wins against Osceola to win 5-2 was the highlight of the weekend.”

Medford ended the tournament with a 5-2 win over its Great Northern Conference rival Antigo. This victory also was driven by a doubles sweep.

Krug and Ruesch teamed up for a 6-2, 6-1 flight-one win over Anna Vandeweerd and Amanda Waite. Clarkson and Tlusty were 6-2, 6-3 winners in flight two over Anna Heuss and Evie Trabant-McKenna and Razink and Dahl won the first set 6-3 over Haven Baumgartner and Maddy Ratliff and then won a tiebreaker in set two 7-2 to take the set 7-6 and the match.

Strebig won her number-two singles match with Jacqueline Belling 6-3, 7-5 and Machon won at number-four 7-6 (2), 7-5 in a good one with Julia Volpentesta.

Holmes filled the one spot and was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Molly Neufeld. Antigo’s Hailey Burhop won a tight one at number-three over Mann 7-6 (2), 6-3. In between the wins, Eau Claire North swept Medford 7-0.

Day one

On Friday, Medford started the Altoona tournament with a 5-2 loss to Onalaska Luther.

“Luther was a nice match to start out the invite,” Bucki said. “They have a historically strong program, but we were able to compete with them in all flights.”

Ruesch outlasted Makayla Boldt 7-6 (7), 2-6, 10-7 at number-two singles and Strebig was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Julia Larson in flight-three.

“Audrey had a very nice match and was able to serve out the match in the first set and match tiebreaker of several for the weekend,” Bucki said. “Morgan Strebig also had a nice win in a very evenly-matched contest. Morgan is swinging her racket with confidence and has really improved her consistency in the last week.”

Emma Kolb downed Krug 6-2, 6-1 in flight one and Alexis Church beat Raider Natalie Preuss 6-4, 6-3 in flight four. The Knights swept the doubles matches to secure the team win.

Rileigh Olson and Karly Miller beat Holmes and Mann 6-3, 6-1 in flight one, Clara Baudek and Allison Buege beat Clarkson and Dahl 6-1, 6-4 in flight two and Kenzie Olson and Kaira Paus were 6-2, 6-4 winners over Razink and Tlusty in flight three.

Medford rebounded with a 7-0 sweep over Unity-Luck. The win included forfeits for Dahl and Clarkson at numbertwo doubles and Lily Holmes and Sydnie Peterson at number-three. Mann and Grace Holmes were straight-set winners in flight one over Tya Volgren and Chloe Jensen 6-2, 6-0.

The singles lineup earned four straight-set wins. Krug beat Piper Nelson 6-1, 6-0, Machon won 6-3, 6-1 over Emma Ogren, Rachel Daniels took the number- three match 6-0, 6-1 over Christine Bertsch and Tlusty took care of Breeyn Nelson 6-2, 6-0 at number-four.

“Unity has a very young group of players but they’re athletic and make you work to earn points,” Bucki said. “Masaeda did an excellent job of adjusting to an unorthodox style of play. From the beginning of the match, she had control and maintained dominance throughout the match. Makenna Tlusty earned her second singles win of the season and brought her overall record to 6-1. Makenna has shown the drive to continuously improve and her flexibility between playing singles and doubles has caused her to become more of a staple in the lineup. Jaylin continues to go out on the court, put her head down and compete, regardless of who is on the other side of the net.”

The first day ended with a 7-0 loss to Altoona.

“Altoona has an outstanding team and are favorites to defend their Division 2 team sectional title,” Bucki said. “We were quite outmatched in the singles matches, but our doubles lineup gave them some of their tougher challenges of the season.”

In flight-one doubles, Bella Bauer and Josie Rondestvedt beat Krug and Ruesch 6-4, 6-0.

“After spending some time working on doubles technique, Masaeda and Audrey looked like a completely different team than what they showed in Pacelli (a 6-1, 6-1 loss on Aug. 17). If they can compete with Altoona’s top doubles team, they can compete with nearly anyone. This was a huge step in the right direction for them.”

Katelyn Beltz and Sofia Bach beat Grace Holmes and Mann 6-0, 6-1 in flight two and Ryanna Hesselink and Sheyenne Her defeated Clarkson and Dahl 6-2, 6-4. “Madison Clarkson had her best match of the season, pairing up with Hannah Dahl, to take on a 16-1 Altoona duo and giving them one of their biggest challenges this year,” Bucki said.

Machon filled the top spot in singles and was beaten 6-2, 6-0 by Ava Bremer. Lidia Bach beat Strebig at number-two 6-0, 6-1, Addie Peters swept Daniels 6-0, 6-0 and Caroline Frie led 6-0, 2-0 when her match with Preuss ended.

Grace Holmes

Indya Mann