Whitefish tennis sweeps Ronan despite wintery weather

In a match that was nearly canceled due to snow and inclement weather, both the Whitefish boys and girls tennis teams beat Ronan on Friday.

The boys team came away with a 7-0 win over the Chiefs while the girls won 3-1 after some matches were called off near the end of the day.

The boys team won all of their matches, led by junior Mason Kelch playing at No. 1 singles. He came back after a tough first set to defeat Ronan’s Beau Decker 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Aydin Mulholland, Johnny Nix and Connor Kelly all won their matches in straight sets.

For the doubles teams, in the No. 1 spot Dane Hunt and Jack Oehlerich of Whitefish defeated Chiefs’ Dante Baltz and Wyatt Simpson without losing a game — 6-0, 6-0. The Bulldog team of Reid Pickert and Buren Burst and the team of Logan Hyland and Walt Seigmund both had convincing wins as well.

For the girls, coach Patrick Dryden says they are seeing all the players on the young squad evolve.

“We are seeing almost daily improvement from the JV and varsity kids,” Dryden said.

In Ronan, Whitefish’s No. 1 singles player Alivia Lusko was defeated in two sets by Maidens’ Angie Paca, but the rest of the team won out. Also at singles, sophomores Zoey Marzo and Gretel Vine each won their matches in two sets.

The only girls doubles match of the day was another win for Whitefish. Sophomore Maggie Mercer and junior Ainsley Scott teamed up to defeat Ronan’s Sara McConnell and Amy Snyder, 6-0, 6-0.

“Ainsley Scott is really emerging as our top doubles player…” Dryden said. “She brings a lot of heart and competitiveness to every practice and every match.”

Whitefish also played Libby earlier in the week. The girls result came down to the final singles match when freshman Camry Kelch pulled out a third-set tiebreaker to win and also give the team a 4-3 win over the Loggers.

The Loggers swept the doubles matches, but Whitefish won all of the singles matches including wins from Lusko, Mercer and Marzo.

“The Libby match went down to the last point, it was pretty dramatic…” Dryden said.

Whitefish tennis will play again on Thursday in Kalispell when the team takes on Flathead High School at FVCC at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the Bulldogs will head to Libby again for an invite.

Complete scoring for the matches in Libby was unavailable.

BOYS

Whitefish 7, Ronan 0

Singles

Mason Kelch (WF) def. Beau Decker, 2-6, 7-6(7-3) 6-3; Aydin Mulholland (WF) def. Remi Stalheim, 6-2, 6-2; Johnny Nix (WF) def. Tristan Buckallew, 6-0, 6-0; Connor Kelly (WF) def. Robert Haggard, 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles

Dane Hunt/Jack Oehlerich (WF) def. Dante Baltz/Wyatt Simpson, 6-0, 6-0; Reid Pickert/Buren Burst (WF) def. Toby Cantlon/ Rowan Parks, 6-0, 6-0; Logan Hyland/ Walt Seigmund (WF) def. Hayden Fussell/ Robert Haggard, 6-0, 6-0.

GIRLS

Whitefish 3, Ronan 1

Singles

Angie Paca (R) def. Alivia Lusko, 6-2, 6-4; Z. Marzo (WF) def Mollena Sydnor, 6-1, 6-1; Gretel Vine (WF) def. Eyana Burshia, 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles

Maggie Mercer/Ainsley Scott (WF) def. Sara McConnell/Amy Snyder, 6-0, 6-0.