Bulldogs looking ahead to divisional tourney

The Bulldogs tennis team split a pair of duals down in the Bitterroot before competing in the Bitterroot Invitational last weekend.

Whitefish fell to Hamilton 4-3 but beat Corvallis 5-2 in head-to-head matchups on Friday.

Head coach Chris Schwaderer said the loss was a bit humbling.

“Unfortunately we started the weekend off with a little bit of a let down against Hamilton in the first match,” he said. “I just don’t think that everyone was quite ready for that, maybe they were a little bit overconfident, I’m not sure, but we just weren’t quite ready. But I thought we rebounded really well that afternoon against Corvallis. Everyone looked a lot sharper and I think we got our confidence back.”

Brendan Buls picked up the lone singles win against Hamilton, while the doubles teams of Zach Brandt and Colter Upton and Jaime Schwartz and Carver Gilman picked up wins.

Against Corvallis, Eric Holdhusen, Jayce Cripe and Noah Fauth picked up singles wins. Brandt and Upton and Schwartz and Gilman again won their matches.

On Saturday the team competed in the Bitterroot Invitational. Buls went undefeated in the tournament.

Schwaderer said he was especially happy with the play of Brandt and Upton, who just started playing together recently.

“I think they’re starting to look really good together, I think their style of play really complements each other,” Schwaderer said.

“They have good chemistry and they had a real nice tournament.”

Schwaderer last week talked about the Bitterroot tournament being a turning point in the season, setting the stage for the second half of the season while showing him where his team fits competitively.

Likewise, he said last weekend was good for figuring out what he’s got moving forward.

“I think the Bitterroot tournament does a couple things for us. For one, it helps us to solidify our lineup and doubles pairings and see that we’re pretty well set up, and the other thing is it kind of exposes maybe some of our weaknesses. As a coach, it kind of gives me an idea of some of the things we need to work on,” he said.

For instance, Schwaderer said he’s realizing his doubles teams need to develop their top spin lobs to stay more competitive against teams that like to play at the net.

“When you get up against some of these tough teams that are really aggressive at the net, we need to find a way to drive them off the net and neutralize them and kind of reclaim control. It’s sort of a specialized little stroke that doubles teams need to have, and I noticed that’s something we need to work on,” he said.

Whitefish has a full schedule this week, at Polson on Tuesday after press time, then going to Columbia Falls Thursday. On Saturday they’ll host Libby and Ronan at the Riverside Park courts starting at 10 a.m.

Now is the time to start looking ahead, Schwaderer said.

“From this point on, it’s important to start thinking about the divisional tournament and how we want to get seeded,” he said. “We just want to make sure we can get the quality matchups that we need to get us the best seeds.”

Hamilton 4, Whitefish 3

Singles: Alex Raymond, H, def. Holdhusen, 6-2, 7-5; Brandon Buls, W, def. Ray Allison, 6-1, 6-0; Sam Toenjes, H, def. Jayce Cripe, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Khang Truong, H, def. Noah Fauth, 6-1, 6-3.

Doubles: Rio Hammond/Cody Kirkbride, H, def. Mark Anderson/Forrest Kobelt, 6-1, 7-6; Zach Brandt/Colter Upton, W, def. Will Torres/Phil Melnarik, 6-4, 6-3; Jaime Schwartz/Carver Gillman, W, def. Bodie Hanson/Cannon Hawkes, 6-4, 6-1.

Whitefish 5, Corvallis 2

Singles: Godard, C, def. Brendon Buls, 7-5, 5-7, 10-7; Eric Holdhusen, W, def. Leidle, 6-2, 6-2; Jayce Cripe, W, def. Ryan Hubbard, 6-2, 6-2; Noah Fauth, W, def. Trey Gross, 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles: DeLeo/Warnken, C, def. Mark Anderson/Forrest Kobelt, 6-2, 6-3; Zach Brandt/Colter Upton, W, def. Griffin/Bay, 2-6, 7-5, 10-5; Jamie Schwartz/Carver Gilman, W, def. Cody Henstridge/Marshall Fehr, 6-2, 6-3.

Bitterroot Invitational

Teams competing: Valley Christian, Dillon, Stevensville, Anaconda, Hamilton, St. Ignatius, Libby, Butte Central, Troy, Corvallis, Whitefish.

Boys

No. 1 singles flight: Brad Rakich, D, def. Trey Christiaens, VC, 6-3, 6-4; Josh Clark, A, def. Jacopo Carletto, ST, 6-1, 6-4; Alex Raymond, H, def. Warren Castor, SI, 6-0, 6-1; Marius Godard, C, def. Viril Sadewasser, L, 6-0, 6-1; Manuel Gonzalez, BC, def. AJ Faur, TR, 7-6 (3), 6-3; Eric Holdhusen, WF, def. Nate Leonardson, D, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 10-5; Rakich def. Sadewasser, 6-0, 6-0; David Haacke, STE, def. Warren Castor, SI, 7-5, 7-6 (3); Godard def. Clark, 6-3, 6-1; Gonzalez, BC, def. Holdhusen, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9; Christiaens def. Faur, 6-0, 6-1.

No. 2 singles flight: Jaymark Leidle, C, def. Laurenz Ehlers, SI, 7-5, 6-3; Brendan Buls, WF, def. David Granell, BC, 6-1, 6-1; Will Hartzell, ,VC, def. Sebastian Sanders, L, 6-4, 6-2; Ray Allison, H, def. Cody Osterberg, T, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6; Joe Freze, A, def. Reece Haugo, STE, 6-0, 6-2; Leonardson def. Sebastian Sanders, L, 6-1, 6-1; Allison def. Freze, 6-3, 6-3; Buls def. Ehlers, 6-0, 6-0; Liedle def. Granell, 6-1, 2-6, 11-9; Osterberg def. Haugo, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 1 doubles flight: Johnson/Ossello, def. Patterson/McElmurry, L, 6-2, 6-0; DeLeo/Warnken, C, def. Cummings/Freund, T, 6-0, 6-1; Southam/Peterson, D, def. Kobelt/Anderson, WH, 6-1, 6-3; McCloy/Colwell, VC, def. Haack/Hale, ST, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9; Hammond/Kirkbride, H, def. Wilson/Thompson, A, 6-0, 6-3; DeLeo/Warnken, C, def. Patterson/McElmurry, L, 6-0, 6-0; Johnson/Ossello, BC, Kobelt/Anderson, WH, 6-1, 6-3; Southam/Peterson, D, def. Cummings/Freund, T, 6-1, 6-0; Hammond/Kirkbride def. McCloy/Colwell, 6-2, 6-0; Haack/Hale def. Wilson/Thompson, 6-4, 6-1.

No. 2 doubles flight: Bay/Griffin, C, def. Kelly/Mills, A, 6-0, 6-0; Streit/Hawkins, VC, def. Lester/Kline, BC, 5-7, 6-4, 10-5; Brandt/Upton, WH, def. Hale/Carletto, ST, 6-3, 6-1; Sawyer/Guillen, D, def. Lee/Hock, L, 6-1, 6-1; Torres/Melnarik, H, def. Winslow/Stever, T, 6-3, 6-0; Hale/Carletto def. Kelly/Mills, 6-2, 6-3; Torres/Melnarik, H, def. Lee/Hock, 6-1, 6-3; Brandt/Upton def. Lester/Kline, 6-3, 7-5; Bay/Griffin def. Streit/Hawkins, 2-6, 7-5, 10-5; Sawyer/Guillen def. Winslow/Stever, 6-4, 6-1.