First week brings packed schedule for tennis

The singles players on Bigfork High School's boys and girls tennis teams had a successful opening week as they won a majority of their five matches.

In the No. 1 spot for the girls, senior Jade Bosic defeated Glacier's Montana Ziglar, 6-1, 6-1, and Whitefish's Anne Miller, 6-0, 6-1. Bosic was defeated by Polson's Kendyall Rochin, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2).

"Jade plays very smart. She works the ball vertically and horizontally," said Paul Wallin one of Bigfork High School's two co-coaches. "She plays long points and has few unforced errors."

Senior Bridger Mahlum, who plays in the No. 1 spot for the Bigfork boys, defeated Glacier's Michael Boettcher, 6-3, 6-1, Whitefish's Jacob Washer, 6-2, 6-3, and Polson's Matt Roberts, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0. He lost to his Mission opponent last Tuesday, April 6.

"Bridger had a very good week," Wallin said. "He played tough opponents and competed at a high level. His unforced errors were down from matches from last year."

The Mission match was the first of the season for Bigfork, and it kicked off a non-stop schedule of matchups over the next 10 days. After traveling to Mission, the Vikes and Vals went to Polson for a dual-meet, which Corvallis also attended and proved to be some of the toughest competition so far for Bigfork.

"The Corvallis boys were a very good team," Wallin said. "They are very deep. It was a good experience for the boys to play them."

Saturday Bigfork hosted Whitefish and Monday Bigfork traveled to Kalispell to play Glacier High School. Tuesday the girls were scheduled to play in Eureka and the boys were to host Thompson Falls. The boys match was canceled due to winter weather and no results were available at press time for the girls.

"We had a good week," Wallin said. "Now we are looking forward to some practice this week."

Also playing strong this week was Colter Mahlum, who is Bigfork's number two singles player. He defeated Evan Froystad of Glacier, 6-2, 6-2, Whitefish's Tyler Schiff, 6-4, 7-6, and Polson's Christian McCurdy, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Dylan Reichenbach had a solid week as well in both singles and doubles play. He played in the No. 4 singles spot against Glacier and beat Ryan Edward, 6-0, 6-0. Against Whitefish he was paired with Nate Roberson as the No. 2 doubles team and they beat Nick Jack and Casey Beiser, 7-6, 6-1. He beat Hayden Congdon of Polson in the No. 4 singles match 6-4, 6-4.

"Dylan has become a master technician," Wallin said. "He uses his court savvy to open up the court and win points."

The girls doubles teams were all over the place. They lost all of the matches against Glacier and beat all of Whitefish's pairs. McKinze Shults and Kianna Wicklund were the only Bigfork girls duo to beat a Polson doubles team as they defeated Jordan Quinn and MaKenzie Clay 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.

The Bigfork boys doubles teams fared even worse as they lost all of the matches against Polson and Glacier and Reichenbach and Roberson had the only win against Whitefish.

"It was a very busy week. With so many matches we were unable to discuss positioning on the court," Wallin said. "It showed in our spotty doubles results."

The Vikes and Vals will finally get some practice time in as they don't have another match until next Tuesday, April 20, which will be at home against Glacier. Next Friday, Bigfork travels to Ronan and the following day Bigfork hosts its annual Flight Tournament, which will bring in schools from Mission, Troy, Eureka, Libby and Cut Bank.

RESULTS

Monday, April 12

Boys

Bigfork 4, Glacier 3

SINGLES — Bridger Mahlum, B, def. Michael Boettcher 6-3, 6-1; Colter Mahlum, B, def. Evan Froystad 6-2, 6-2; John Lyon, B, def. Juan-Pablo Gevaudan 6-2, 6-4; Dylan Reichenbach, B, def. Ryan Edwards 6-0, 6-0.

DOUBLES — Brandon Simpson/Kyle Schmauch, G, def. Ryan Gembala/Evan Jordt 6-3, 6-4; Grahm Schmaltz/Kyle LeDuc, G, def. Nate Roberson/Shane Parks 6-1, 6-0; Karl Hellwig/Ryan Schmauch, G, def. Seth Roessmann/Colter Trent 6-0, 6-0.

Girls

Bigfork 4, Glacier 3

SINGLES — Jade Bosic, B, def. Montana Ziglar 6-1, 6-1; Carolina Tietzel, B, def. Bridget Unterreinner 6-0, 6-1; Claire Wilken, B, def. Nikki Olsen 6-1, 6-2; MaKenna Gembala, B, def. Hannah Davis 1-6, 6-0, 6-2;

DOUBLES — Amy Snipstead/Shelby Ballard, G, def. Hannah Barrett/Kelly Deaton 3-6, 6-2 6-1; Katlyn Hacke/Brianna Walling, G, def. Kianna Wicklund/Ariel Stallknecht 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Lauren Jones/Hilary Syvertson, G, def. McKinze Shults/Emily Hardman 6-4, 6-2.

Saturday, April 10

Boys

Bigfork 4, Whitefish 3

SINGLES — Bridger Mahlum, B, def. Jacob Washer, 6-2, 6-3; Colter Mahlum, B, def. Tyler Schiff, 6-4, 7-6; John Lyon, B, def. Francisco Valle, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2; Austin Sattler, W, def. Nate Roberson, 6-1, 6-2.

DOUBLES — Joel Mallams/Jake Morison, W, def. Ryan Gembala/Evan Jordt, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6; Nate Roberson/Dylan Reichenbach, B, def. Nick Jack/Casey Beiser 7-6, 6-1; Joel Bacher/Connor Ellis, W, def. Shane Parks/Seth Roessmann, 6-3, 6-2.

Girls

Bigfork 7, Whitefish 0

SINGLES — Jade Bosic, B, def. Anne Miller, 6-0, 6-1; Carolina Tietzel, B, def. Courtney Wilder, 6-1, 6-0; MaKenna Gembala, B, def. Megan Danczyk, 6-2, 6-1; Kianna Wicklund, B, def. Kendall Sattler, 6-1. 6-0.

DOUBLES — Hannah Barrett/Claire Wilken, B, def. Bailey Chauner/Tara Sullivan, 6-1, 6-0; Ariel Stallknecht/Kainna Wicklund, B, def. Lauren Cain/Ryan Chauner, 6-1, 6-0; Emily Hardman/McKinze Shults, B, def. Lindsey Viscomi/Haley Craven, 6-0, 6-0.

Friday, April 9

Boys

Bigfork 4, Polson 3

SINGLES — Bridger Mahlum, B, def. Matt Roberts, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0; Colter Mahlum, B, def. Christian McCurdy, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2; Ryan Gembala, B, def. Andrew Storro, 6-1, 6-2; Dylan Reichenbach, B, def. Hayden Congdon, 6-4, 6-4.

DOUBLES — Shad Giles/Justin Evertz, P, won by forfeit over Bridger Mahlum/Colter Mahlum; Will Davey/Ian Laimbeer, P, def. John Lyon/Nate Roberson, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Harrison Pentilla/Jacob Browne, P, def. Seth Roessmann/Shane Parks, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Girls

Polson 6, Bigfork 1

SINGLES — Kendyall Rochin, P, def. Jade Bosic, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Jane Probst, P, def. Carolina Tietzel, 6-1, 6-0; Kayla Rochin, P, def. Claire Wilken, 6-4, 6-4; Erika Nunlist, P, def. Ariel Stallknecht, 6-3, 6-4.

DOUBLES — Karman Borchers/Kelsie Howell, P, def. Kelly Deaton/Hannah Barrett, 6-4, 7-5; MaKenzie Shults/Kianna Wicklund, B, def. Jordan Quinn/MaKenzie Clay, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8; Audra Engebretson/Whitney Zimmerman, P, def. MaKenna Gembala/Emily Hardman, 6-3, 6-3.

Boys

Corvallis 7, Bigfork 0

Girls

Corvallis 4, Bigfork 3

Individual results not available