Tennis team will send three to state tourney

Hungry Horse News

As the Columbia Falls High School tennis teams' seasons wound to a close this weekend at the Western A Divisional tennis tournament, several individuals were able to extend their seasons to the state tournament that starts today in Lewistown.

Senior Friedrich Von Schweinitz finished fourth in boys singles, advancing after defeating Ben James of Whitefish in the Consolation Semifinals 6-4, 6-7(8-6), 6-0 and then losing to Isaak Opatz of Whitefish in a hard-fought Consolation Final, 6-2, 7-6(7-5).

Coach Jerry Smalley said that Von Schweinitz' accomplishment was a milestone for the two-year-old program.

"Friedrich Von Schweinitz really stepped up his game to become Columbia Falls' first boy to qualify for state," he said.

For the girls, junior Kate Marcille and her freshman sister Sarah qualified for the state tournament after defeating Kyla Salisbury and Maresa Jenson of Whitefish 6-3, 6-3 in the consolation semifinals before losing to Bigfork's Beth Bermel and Trisha Smith 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7-5) in the consolation final.

The teams both finished fourth in the team scores, with the boys racking up 12 points and the girls collecting 29, leaving Smalley excited about the future of his team.

"The level of play of the Wildcat boys at this year's Divisionals was much higher than last year," he said.

To reach the consolation finals, Von Schweinitz defeated Whitefish's Ian Hosek in the second round but lost in the third round to Polson's Andy Dykstra 6-4, 6-4. He then rebounded in the third round of the consolation bracket to defeat Polson's Jake Grebetz 7-6(8-6), 6-2, and then beat Polson's Zach Brown 6-1, 6-0 in the fourth round to move on to the semifinals.

The Marcille sisters also took a circuitous route to state, defeating Polson's Jessica Bowers and Emily Pyles 6-0, 6-0 before losing to Bigfork's Kaia Bowers and Ashley Brunette 7-5, 6-1. They then defeated Libby's Jessica Doubek and Brittany Larson 6-1, 6-1 before beating Kelsey Peace and Alli Connelly of Whitefish 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of the consolation bracket to reach the semifinals.

In other boys action, junior Josh Kaplan lost in the first round of singles to Bigfork's Tyler Butts 6-2, 6-4, and then lost to Grebetz in the first round of the consolation, with no scores available.

Junior Clayton Johnson lost to James in the first round of singles 6-0, 6-1, and defeated Libby's Zach Ercanbrack in the first round of the consolation bracket, with no score available, before dropping his second round match to Butts 6-1, 6-1.

Sophomore Jeremy Loween lost in the second round to Opatz 6-0, 6-2, then defeated Libby's Justin Thorstenson 7-6, 7-6 in the first round of the consolation bracket. Bigfork's David Myers then defeated Loween 6-3, 6-1 to end Loween's season.

In doubles, Junior Michael Karper and senior Kevin Kropp defeated Libby's Wyatt Chrismore and Justin Nelson 6-2, 6-4 before losing to Bigfork's Laine Averill and Pete Collins in the second round 6-1, 6-1. Karper and Kropp then lost to Bigfork's Cy Murer and Owen Roberts 6-4, 6-4.

Senior Paul Webb and freshman Casey Hebert lost to Cody Harrison and Ryan Rottenbiller of Whitefish 6-1, 7-6(7-4) before losing to Polson's Steven Hauck and Chris Schnackenberg 6-4, 6-3.

Junior Chuck Sneddon and senior Devon Hagen lost to Polson's Sean Holley and Spencer Irwin 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and then were defeated by Ben Hilleboe and Kris Archer of Whitefish 6-1, 6-4.

"It's fun to watch the improvement in our boys doubles play," he said. "Devon and Chuck got beat but they forced their opponents to play good tennis."

With the season now over for the majority of his players, Smalley said goodbye to the seniors and gave advice to the returning team.

"We'll miss seniors Paul, Devon, and Friedrich, and encourage our returning players to hit lots of tennis balls this summer."

In the rest of the girls action, junior Emily Emmert beat Jessie Kuennen of Whitefish 6-1, 7-6(7-2) and then lost to Polson's Elise Benrell 6-4, 7-5. In the third round of the consolation bracket, she defeated junior teammate Lisa Carter 6-4, 7-5(7-2) before beating Bigfork's Rebecca Buffington 6-2, 6-7(10-7), 6-3. In the consolation semifinals, she finally lost to Taylor Beach of Whitefish 6-2, 6-2.

Junior Chelsea Smith lost to Whitefish's Brielle Menegazzi 6-0, 6-1 in the first round before defeating Libby's Misty Little 6-3, 6-4 in the consolation first round. In the second round, however, she lost to teammate Carter 6-2, 6-4.

Carter, on the other hand, lost in the first round to Libby's Tiffany Casey 6-3, 6-4 before defeating Smith. In the third round, she lost to Emmert to drop out of the tournament.

Junior Jessica Hopkins beat Bigfork's Cassie Keller 6-1, 6-0 before losing to Polson's Mattea York, with no score available. In the third round of the consolation bracket, she lost to Menegazzi 6-1, 6-3.

In doubles, juniors Donna Burns and Danielle Fagre lost to Bennett and Smith 6-1, 6-2 before beating Libby's Riley Derning and Margeaux Zwang 6-0, 6-1. They were knocked out of the tournament by Peace and Connelly in the second round 6-1, 6-3.

Seniors Nikki Freebury and Crystal Nieves defeated Polson's Addie Krantz and Mara Harmon 6-0, 6-3 and then beat Peace and Connelly 7-5(7-3), 5-7, 6-4 in the second round. Lock and Brunette then defeated them in the third round 7-5, 6-1, sending them to the consolation bracket where they lost to Bermel and Smith 6-2, 7-5.

"At the beginning of the season, I seriously wondered if we'd qualify anyone for state," he said. "One of my goals, as a coach, is to prepare kids to get into a position to qualify for state. Only the top four singles and doubles teams qualify."

He praised the effort by several members, saying they were close to reaching the state tournament.

"On Saturday, we had one singles player, Emily Emmert, and two doubles teams, Freebury and Nieves and Marcille and Marcille, play in matches where the winners go to state," he said. "Unfortunately, only the Marcille sister duo qualified. When Emily is 'on' she plays very good tennis and with some consistency, we hope she qualifies next year."

Smalley also said that the Marcille sisters played great tennis throughout the year.

"Kate qualified, with Amy Frederick, last year and the pleasant surprise has bee the stroke production and maturity of her freshman sister, and fellow Hungry Horse News scribe, Sarah," he said. "The Marcille sisters get stronger and work together every match they play, and only missed third place by two points in a tie-breaker."

As for his departing team members, he wished them well.

"Next year we'll miss Nikki, Rosemary (Dalimata), and Crystal, but we should have a fine group of players returning," he said.