Lady Dogs confident going into divisionals

The Lady Bulldogs are red hot heading into the Northwestern A divisional tournament, getting solid victories against Polson and Stevensville last week.

On Wednesday Whitefish took down Polson 5-2. Whitefish beat Stevensville by the same score on Saturday.

Paint Intasuk picked up two big No. 2 singles wins in those duals.

“We just keep getting stronger. I hope that we’re peaking at the right time,” head coach Patrick Dryden said. “I think we really turned the corner a couple weeks ago.”

Divisionals were set to be held in Polson and Ronan on Tuesday after press time and continue on Wednesday, but weather may complicate things.

“It’s going to be kind of an unusual tournament because we’re starting on a Tuesday and we don’t have indoor courts,” Dryden said. “I think we need to be ready for some adversity and possibly even some different scoring systems if we have a lot of rain delays. I think mentally we need to be prepared as much as physically.”

Dryden pointed to his No. 1 and 2 singles players, Hannah Madsen and Intasuk, as well as the doubles teams of Paige Sproul and Cailyn Ross and Melissa Pollard and Holly Hileman, as players he thinks will have success at the tournament.

If they’re going to get anywhere in the tournament, he said, they’ll need to get past a tough Polson team.

The No. 1 singles player for the Lady Pirates, Cassie Carlyle, took down both Madsen and Intasuk in the two times the teams have faced off.

“Polson is definitely the team to beat once again, but our focus is the same as it is every year, and that’s just to get as many people as possible qualified for state,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is we just need to relax and have fun.”

Whitefish 5, Polson 2

Singles — Cassie Carlyle, P, def. Hannah Madsen 7-5, 6-0; Paint Intasuk, W, def. Shea McGuinness 6-0, 6-2; Savannah Krause, W, def. Sophia Speckert 6-4, 4-6, 15-13; Claire Carloss, W, def. Josie Peterson

Doubles — Kyler Lundeen/Olivia Hewston, P, def. Cailyn Ross/Paige Sproul 6-3, 6-1; Holly Hileman/Melissa Pollard, W, def. Elizabeth Violett/Alia Tavenner 7-6, 6-3; Olivia Potthoff/Aubrey Hanks, W, def. Sharmaine Zempel/Olivia Perez 6-1, 6-3.

Whitefish 5, Stevensville 2

Singles — Hannah Madsen, W, def. Erin Bartlett, 6-1, 6-1; Paint Intasuk, W, def. Ashley Eyre, 6-0, 6-1; Savannah Krause, W, def. Brianne Bartschi, 6-1, 6-2; Claire Carloss, W, def. Callie Cavill, 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles — Shelby Spokas/Jackie Westman, S, def. Holly Hileman/Melissa Pollard, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-2; Aubrey Hank/Olivia Potthoff, W, def. Kayla Eyre/Alex Deschamps, 6-1, 6-1; Kylie Burlingham/Jamyn Beller, S, def. Kit Anderson/Autumn Roalson, 6-2, 6-2.