Raiders have depth, experience as they seek most effective lineup

MEDFORD GIRLS TENNIS PREVIEW

There will likely be more lineup shifting and experimenting going on in the next couple of weeks to find what works best, but the Medford Raiders learned some things about themselves in the first week of the 2022 season, which included five dual meets in the Wausau West Invitational Monday and Tuesday.

The Raiders went 2-3 in the invite with four of those dual meets coming against Wisconsin Valley Conference schools. The fifth meet was a 6-1 loss to Altoona, a team Medford head coach Jake Bucki guesses will be fighting Regis-McDonell for the WIAA Division 2 sectional team championship come early October.

Interest in tennis this fall is high with about 45 girls showing up for the first week of practices. That has forced the coaching staff to expand to three positions with former Raiders Mandi Baker and Karlee Batchelder leading the JV and JV2 groups respectively.

At the varsity level, nine returning letter winners saw action in the seasonopening invite and the 10th, sophomore Audrey Ruesch, was knocking at the door last year and had a solid debut at West.

“The biggest thing we took from it was preparation before the point and between hits,” Bucki said as the team began its Wednesday morning practice. “You just can’t be late. You have to be ready for everything. We’ve been harping on that in practice. Now they saw it, so hopefully they respond better and realize that.

“We competed and that’s what I told them,” he added. “These are Division 1 schools. Wausau West is at a whole different level. But Rapids and Everest weren’t weak.”

“It went pretty good,” senior Myah Smith said. “We got some really good competition. We got a lot of practice in for the good teams we’re probably going to play.” Smith is one of six seniors entering their fourth seasons with the tennis team, joining Eryka Seidl, Makayla Motte, Kierstyn Halopka, Christine Czeshinski and Alyssa Brandner. Seniors Morgan Huegli and Chloe Werner are back after a successful first season with the team in 2021. Junior Masaeda Krug is poised for a big year in her third varsity season and Ruesch is the lone sophomore with the top group. Juniors Morgan Strebig, Marcy Razink and Madison Clarkson have also been working with the varsity group in practice. “It’s coming together really good I think,” Smith said. “We’ve always gotten along super well with all of our teammates. I love our tennis team. We work together really well.”

“This team is like family,” Motte said. Depth figures to be a team strength and Bucki expects that to show in the lower flights. With the experience the Raiders have, they’ll have opportunities to win plenty of matches at number-three doubles, number-three and number-four singles and even number-two singles and doubles matches.

This is one of those years where the Raiders might lack the surefire talents to lock in at the number-one spots, but Bucki has some options to play with.

Smith, Krug and Huegli will certainly be in the upper flights for the Raiders. Huegli had a solid debut season at number- two singles a year ago, going 8-11 in the flight and 9-12 overall. She earned a number-one win against Merrill on Tuesday. Krug held her own in a couple of number-one singles matches Monday and is an option.

Smith, meanwhile, has been a doubles mainstay for the past two years, most often teaming up with Seidl. They went 15-6 together in flight three last year and teamed up for most of the West tournament. They earned second-team All-GNC honors at number-three doubles last fall. Krug and Huegli teamed up a couple of times in the tournament in flight-one doubles, going 1-1. Bucki said Wednesday he might try Krug and Smith together and see where that goes.

Motte is a two-time letter winner who’s done virtually all of her work in singles play and that’s where she hopes to stay. She won five number-three matches as a junior and got time at the number-one and number-three spots in Wausau.

Ruesch went 3-2 at Wausau West, rotating between number-two and numberfour singles.

“Audrey has been kind of what I was hoping for,” Bucki said. “She lost to West and to Altoona, but both of those were up at two singles.”

Czeshinski and Brandner have experience at both doubles and singles. After missing her sophomore year due to injury, Brandner saw most of her time last year at number- four or number-three singles.

Halopka and Werner teamed up throughout the West Invitational and filled the number-two or number- three doubles spot, depending on the matchup. They went 3-2 together.

Smith and Motte said the Raiders have found things to work on in the first week of the season.

“I felt like a lot of the girls I played (at West) had short-angled shots that I just couldn’t get to, so I want to try to work on that and a cut shot,” Motte said.

“We learned that we definitely need to work on running to the ball and getting there faster because there were quick teams,” Smith said. “We definitely need to work on endurance.”

“It’s always about moving our feet and being set before each point,” Motte said. “It’s just trying to anticipate where the ball’s going to go.”

“We definitely have to work on that,” Smith said.

With the high numbers in the program, Medford has been scrambling to find JV competition and, so far, has been successful, getting those girls court time in meets at Wisconsin Rapids, Shawano and Wausau West. The Raiders will host a JV meet with Eau Claire North Aug. 26.

“That’s huge,” Bucki said. “The sophomores want to get better. Karlee is with the freshmen and she said they want to get better, they’re really working hard.”

In 2021, the Raiders went 6-13 overall in dual meets, including a 2-5 mark in the Great Northern Conference. With 51 points, the Raiders finished sixth in the eight-team league ahead of Columbus Catholic (1-6, 34 points) and Phillips (0-7, six points).

Rhinelander (7-0, 114 points) and Stevens Point Pacelli (6-1, 78 points) led the league while Antigo and Newman Catholic tied for third with 74 points and Lakeland was fifth with 64.

The Raiders’ key losses include the state-qualifying doubles team of Lindsey Wildberg and Sophie Brost, Kelsey Jascor and Kenya Mann and Autumn Higgins, a junior last year who graduated early.

“I would still probably put Rhinelander up there, just because of their depth,” Bucki said of the Hodags, who started the season by going 0-6 against some topnotch competition at the Bay Port Invitational Monday and Tuesday. “Newman almost got Rhinelander last year in the duals. Pacelli had freshmen at one and two last year.”

When the post-season rolls around, Medford will start in a tough subsectional bracket that includes host Altoona, Regis-McDonell and Ashland as well as GNC rivals Antigo, Columbus Catholic, Newman Catholic and Phillips.

“I hope at least someone from our team goes to state this year,” Motte said. “It’s always fun to go and cheer on your teammates at something like that.”

“That is a big goal,” Smith said. “It’s so fun to go to state. It’s such a good experience.”