Lady Bulldogs win State A tennis championship

Calm on the big stage, clutch in the big moments.

The Whitefish girls overcame the numbers to place both doubles teams in the State A tennis finals on Friday in Bozeman, giving the school its first championship since 2004.

Top-seed senior duo Katie Fyall and Anna Peterson edged Glendive’s previously-undefeated team Marenah Crockett and Ceeara Staiger 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the final. Then Bulldog senior Heather Luedke and junior Hannah Madsen beat a Dillon duo 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the championship, as well.

Fyall and Peterson prevailed in the finale, winning 6-3, 6-3.

With two teams in the championship, Whitefish tallied 30 points, easily topping runner-up Billings Central’s 19 points and third place Dillon’s 16.

Whitefish coach Pat Dryden described the championship run as a dream scenario.

“Everything fell into place,” he said.

“They handled the pressure well,” Dryden added. “There are big points and huge points in every tournament. It seems like we won every huge point.”

He pointed to Fyall and Peterson beating favorite Glendive in the semis.

“Glendive was up 4-1 in the second set, then we tightened it up to 4-4,” Dryden said. “The pressure was back on Glendive’s shoulders. A few points later and the match is ours.”

Fyall and Peterson beat Hardin’s Imani Kindness and Naumie Dushane 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, then swept Belgrade’s Lilly Reddick and Brooke Gilbertson to reach the semifinals.

Dryden said the duo’s tenacity and will to win lifted them to the doubles championship.

“They’re very athletic,” Dryden said. “They keep so many balls in play — it’s demoralizing for opponents.

“They’re overheads and volley shots really improved, too. They’ll swat anything that comes over the middle.”

Madsen and Luedke had to battle from the opening match to get to the championship. They were forced to three sets in round one, eventually taking down Kenna Adolph and Hailey Keller of Billings Central 6-2, 6-7 (4) and 6-4. In the quarterfinals they swept Park’s Lindsay Lane and Sophie Badten, 6-4, 7-6 (0).

“Heather and Hannah had some really tight matches that could have gone either way,” Dryden said. “They stepped it up in all of them.”

“If they don’t win against Dillon in the semifinals, we don’t win the team championship.”

Adding to the team point total, Lili Szundy won a consolation singles match on Thursday.

“Lili played her best tennis of the year and almost knocked off a No. 1 seed,” Dryden said.

The 30 points scored is a school record at the state tournament for the girls.

In reflecting back on the season, Dryden said he knew from the get-go his team had the stuff to bring home some hardware. The two top doubles teams battled each other at practice all season and met in the Northwest A championship. They pushed each other to be their best, Dryden said.

“They just made each other better until they reached the top of the state,” Dryden said.

“Heather and Hannah have such beautiful ground strokes and are well refined. Katie and Anna maybe are not the most stylish, but they get it done.”

He calls the championship an honest “homegrown” effort.

“We got contributions from everywhere,” Dryden said. “This one is gratifying because it was truly a team effort.”

The Whitefish boys team entered the State A tournament having won the Northwest A divisional crown, but could only muster 3 points at Bozeman.

Whitefish’s Max Smyley earned three points for his team, beating Lewistown’s Danyon Rice 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 before losing to Dillon’s Bradley Rakich in the next round.

Class A State Tennis, Friday At Bozeman

Girls

Whitefish 30, Billings Central 19, Dillon 16, Hardin 15, Glendive 14, Polson 14, Livingston 13, Columbia Falls 8, Belgrade 2, Corvallis 1.

Boys

Billings Central 32, Glendive 26, Havre 18, Corvallis 11, Dillon 9, Hardin 8, Hamilton 8, Stevensville 5, Polson 4, Park 3, Whitefish 3, Fergus 2, Belgrade 2, Butte Central 1.