Boys tennis swings into season with five wins

A hot start in their first week of competition has the Bulldog tennis team at 5-0 early in the season.

The team opened the season last Tuesday with a 6-1 win over rival Columbia Falls and followed up with four wins at the Cut Bank Invitational at Polson over the weekend.

The Cut Bank Invitational was moved because of weather concerns.

In Polson, the boys took down the hosting Pirates (4-3), Libby (6-1), Cut Bank (6-1) and Loyola (6-1).

Head coach Chris Schwaderer said it was great to see his team playing so well in Polson so early on.

“We came out of it 4-0 and we played a couple conference teams who have been really solid over the last couple years and are always solid,” he said. “I just was incredibly encouraged to see how in our first real sustained time on the courts — to come out and be in good form was impressive.”

Schwaderer said this year’s team is one of the deepest rosters he’s ever had, with returning players like Eric Holdhusen and Brendan Buls along with newcomers like Jayce Cripe, a freshman who went 3-1 in singles play over the weekend.

“It’s a great team to be involved with, there’s a lot of young up-and-coming talent combined with some seasoned veterans and it’s great chemistry, great balance,” he said.

This week the team will get a rematch with Libby in an away dual on Friday. They were also scheduled to play Ronan on Tuesday after presstime.

Schwaderer said this week will be all about working some early-season kinks out and getting the reps his players need to improve.

“Now that we’re out of the gym and working with real balls and real courts, it’s [working on] some of those subtle shots that require lots of reps and lots of practice,” he said. “But overall our general ground strokes look really good, but it’s just going to be a matter of getting repetition so they can feel their shots.”

“I expect really big things out of this team, partially because there’s a lot of talent and part because they’re just really great kids.”

Whitefish 6, Columbia Falls 1

Singles — Eric Holdhusen, W, def. John Gilk, 6-1, 6-3; Brendon Buls, W, def. Garret Caffrey, 6-1, 6-0; Simon Olivier, W, def. Dillon Washington, 6-1, 6-3; Noah Fauth, W, def. Malachi Brower, 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles — Mark Anderson/Colter Upton, W, def. Tristan Grein/Camryn Lingle, 6-4, 7-5; Chris Howell/Neils Getts, CF, def. Zach Brandt/Jayce Cripe, 6-3, 7-5; Jamie Schwartz/Leonardo Motti, W, def. Colton Byrd/Tyler Gates, 6-1, 6-1.

Cut Bank Invitational

At Polson

Whitefish 4, Polson 3

Singles — Brendan Buls, W, def. Johnny Moore, 6-0, 6-1; Eric Holdhusen, W, def. Sam Schultz, 6-2, 6-0; Joe McDonald, P, def. Simon Oliver, 6-1, 6-2; Alex Mausshardt, P, def. Jayce Cripe, 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles — Kaiden Forman-Webster/Carson McDaniel, P, def. Colter Upton/Zach Brandt, 6-1, 6-2; Noah Fauth/Leo Motti, W, def. Trevor Schultz/Kendal Forman-Webster, 7-5, 6-4; Jamie Schwertz/Carver Gilman, W, def. McKauley Morrison/Anton Lefthand, 6-3, 6-3.

Whitefish 6, Libby 1

Singles— Eric Holdhusen, W, def. Sebastian Sanders, L 6-0, 6-0; Brendan Buls, W, def. Virgil Sadewasser, L, 6-0, 6-0; Zach carter, L, def. Simon Olivier, W, 2-6, 7-5, (10-6); Jayce Cripe, W, def. Sebastian Sanders, L, 7-6 (8), 6-2

Doubles— Colter Upton/Zach Brandt, W, def. David Patterson/Ryker McElmurry, L, 6-0,6-2; Noah Fauth/Leo Motti, W, def. Colton Halvorson/Cayman Lee, L, 6-0, 6-0; Jamie Schwartz/Carver Gilman, W, def. Zack Morrison/Daniel Shih, L, 6-1,6-0

Whitefish 6, Cut Bank 1

Singles— Brendan Buls,W, def. Dawson Matt, C, 8-0; Jayce Cripe, W, def. Colby Kraft, C, 8-1; Zach Brandt, W, def. Gus Meiwald, C, 8-5; Luke Schwaiger, W, def. Colten Barsness, C, 8-2

Doubles— Dawson Matt/Colby Kraft, C, def. Colter Upton/Mark Anderson, W, 8-6; Leo Motti/Simon Olivier, W, def. Gus Meiwald/Colten Barsness, C, 8-1; Jamie Schwartz/Carver Gilman, W, def. Carl Estey/Brett Sneed, C, 8-0

Whitefish 6, Loyola 1

Singles— Eric Holdhusen, W, def. Jacob Hollenbeck, L, 8-5; Brendan Buls, W, def. Teddy Heutchling, L, 8-2; Jayce Cripe, W, def. Gabe Lowe, L, 8-4; Leo Motti, W, def. Dominic Marcelli, L, 8-2

Doubles— David Ramsey/Dan Kaleva,L, def. Colter Upton/Mark Anderson, W, 8-3; Simon Zach Brandt/Olivier, W, def. Jordan Job/Garrett Diehl, L, 8-4;

Jamie Schwartz/Carver Gilman, W, def. Tanner Carlson/Seth Lowe, L, 8-1; Luke Schwaiger/Mark Anderson, W, def Loyola , 8-0