Raiders will have lineup options with deep, experienced roster

With just two varsity losses to graduation –– albeit pretty important ones with WIAA Division 2 state qualifier Brooke Sommer and number-one doubles player Jordaan Clark –– girls tennis head coach Jake Bucki and his Medford Raiders come into 2021 with some high expectations.

The roster is experienced, it is deep and there are any number of ways Bucki could fill out his lineup on any given day and expect to be competitive.

But, as the Raiders found out in their season opener Tuesday, success isn’t also guaranteed after they went 1-2 at the Baldwin-Woodville Quad.

Bucki had a hard time finding the right words to describe Medford’s outing, saying the effort and attitude were good and some girls got some nice wins. But he felt there was a little bit missing out on the court. Finding that confidence and swagger could be a determining factor in how the Raiders fare this fall.

“We have the personnel,” Bucki said as practice concluded Wednesday morning. “It’s not like we don’t have players. We have good players. They just need to develop a little bit and they will. We didn’t spend a lot of time with stroke technique last week. We did a lot of match play. Now we’re doing just the opposite. You play in these meets to see where you’re at. I got a good read of where we are and what we need to work on.”

Quads or multi-team tournaments like this were rare in 2020, when Medford went 2-5 in the Great Northern Conference and 4-10 overall and tied for sixth in WIAA sectional play.

As it stands now, Medford’s schedule has a back-to-normal look with non-conference tournaments in Altoona and the return of the Great Northern Conference tournament, hosted by Antigo on Sept. 25, after a one-year hiatus.

Medford visits Antigo, last year’s GNC champion based on dual-meet success, today, Thursday, in a 4:30 p.m. and hosts Lakeland Tuesday for the 2021 home opener, also at 4:30 p.m.

The Raiders bring back nine letter winners from last year’s squad, a couple more who were on the fringe of varsity play and has added some new talent that will make an impact.

With many of those players carrying similar ability levels, figuring out where all the pieces will fit is the challenge for Bucki over the next several weeks. That is why the first week featured a heavy dose of match play and the Raid- ers used three different lineups in Tuesday’s dual meets with Baldwin-Woodville, Ellsworth and Barron.

Seniors Sophie Brost and Lindsey Wildberg are likely to fill the numberone and number-two singles spots. Brost went 8-6 at number-two singles last fall and 8-7 overall and is a two-time letter winner. She was Medford’s only GNC award winner last year, earning honorable mention in flight two. Wildberg is another two-time letter winner. She took a big step forward as a junior, finishing 10-6 and qualifying for the sectional at number-three singles, where she placed third.

“I feel like I can switch them back and forth a little bit,” Bucki said. “If one of them has played an opponent and beat them, I can switch them up. They have completely different styles that they work well with.”

The other position that is locked up for now is number-one doubles, where senior Kelsey Jascor and sophomore Masaeda Krug have been paired up. Jascor is another two-time letter winner who has spent most of her time at doubles, but she also had a solid run late last year at number-four singles. She moved there to make room for Krug, who played her way onto the flight-one team with Clark. They went 2-4 together down the stretch.

“I wanted her to move to doubles with Masaeda, and I talked to Kelsey about it and she was thinking doubles this year as well, so I was more than fine with that,” Bucki said. “I know we could always throw her at three singles and she would do well.”

The competition for the other spots will be intriguing to watch as the season progresses, at least that’s what Bucki is hoping to see from the girls.

Senior Kenya Mann and junior Makayla Motte were a common doubles pairing last fall as were juniors Eryka Seidl and Myah Smith. The Seidl/ Smith pairing seems likely to hold for now as a potential number-two entrant.

Junior Autumn Higgins returns and is vying for a singles spot. She played well Tuesday in a tiebreaker loss to Ellsworth’s Claire Lawrence and playing in seven varsity singles matches a year ago. Morgan Huegli is a junior who just joined the team this year and impressed from the start, earning the opportunity to play two singles matches Tuesday with her success in practice match play last week.

The Raiders are also happy to welcome back junior Alyssa Brandner, who made a positive impression in the first few practices of last year before she had surgery to correct a hip issue before the winter hockey season. She saw action Tuesday in two doubles matches and won her singles debut in a tiebreaker over Barron’s Chance Dexter.

“She came last year to the first week of practice, because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to play with her hip, and she was one of our top doubles players then,” Bucki said.

Junior Kierstyn Halopka and sophomore Morgan Strebig are two more players knocking at the door and senior Emmalee Clarkson and junior Christine Czeshinski are also practicing with the varsity and hoping to seize an opportunity. Junior Chloe Werner and Halopka won the number-three doubles match Tuesday against Baldwin-Woodville.

In all, nearly 40 players are out for tennis this spring, keeping Bucki and JV coach Marlana Livingston busy in split morning practices.

“We need to work on our awareness and our footwork right now,” Bucki said. “We had good attitudes overall (Tuesday). Some people need to work their way into a spot and they can. There’s probably three or four spots that are still up for grabs.”

Bucki viewed Great Northern Conference competition as a great unknown this year, especially since there was no end-of-season tournament last year to gauge where each program was at. While Antigo and Rhinelander are always near the top, Medford’s success against teams like Lakeland, Newman Catholic and Stevens Point Pacelli could determine if the Raiders can finish in the upper half of the standings in the eight-team league.

Antigo is listed as the WIAA Division 2 subsectional host this year. That meet will include six GNC teams plus Ashland and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption. Medford will also host those two teams in a triangular on Sept. 23. The Raiders hope to get some players back to Baldwin-Woodville for the sectional meet, set for Oct. 6.

“We have a lot of room to grow and a lot of work to put in,” Bucki said. “The effort was there (Tuesday). It’s not like we were giving up on balls or mentally gave up in matches. Those are things you can control. The tennis stuff will take care of itself.”