Whitefish tennis teams sweep Northwest A Divisionals

It was a full-blown group effort for the Whitefish girls and boys tennis teams as they swept the team titles for the second year in a row at the Northwest A Divisionals tournament in Libby last weekend.  

Whitefish sophomore standout Liesl Brust came home with the gold in girls singles, and senior Maggie Mercer and junior Camry Kelch took first in girls doubles.  

Freshmen Allie Shors and Emy Hansen took third and fourth, respectively, in girls singles. For the boys, senior Walt Seigmund and junior Aaron Anderson took first in doubles.  

Junior Jack Oehlerich took second in singles. Right behind in third was fellow junior Owen Erickson.  

All of the players qualified for the state tournament this week.  It will be the first time for the girls to send three girls just in singles. 

As a team, the Whitefish boys totaled 57 points to take the title. Columbia Falls was second with 35, then Libby (29), Polson (28) and Bigfork (2).  

The Whitefish girls scored 65 points, followed by Polson (34), Bigfork (22), Libby (17) and Columbia Falls (13). 

Every single Whitefish varsity player – on both the girls and boys teams – contributed to the team titles with at least two points.

Friday brought rain for much of the day, pushing some matches to Saturday.  

On Saturday, the doubles win for Seigmund and Anderson was a bit of an upset, as a Columbia Falls duo was seeded to take first. That doubles win alone added 10 points to Whitefish’s team total.  

The second Whitefish doubles team of Cole Moses and Marcus Mercer fell short of qualifying for state after facing tough opponents in another Columbia Falls top team. It was a good battle with the Bulldogs losing in a tight third set tie breaker.  

The third doubles crew, freshman duo Charlie Oelerich and Jake Shors, pulled their weight. 

“They battled a long distance in the consolation round, earning a few points. It all adds up and it mattered in the end,” said Doris Puglisi, head coach for the boys. “Our three singles, Bjorn Bungener and freshman Finn Hobart, also pulled in a lot of points – everyone on the team did their part.”  

In the boys singles title, Bulldog Oehlerich lost out to reigning state champ Ryan Beagle of Libby.  

Oehlerich will look to battle Beagle again at state, Puglisi said.  

The qualifying five girls and four boys will play at the Class A State tournament Thursday and Friday, May 22-23 in Billings.  

    Aaron Anderson and Walt Seigmund won the boys doubles divisional last weekend. (Doris Puglisi photo)
  

    Jack Oehlerich came in second and Owen Erickson came in third in boys singles at divisionals Saturday. (Doris Puglisi photo)
  

    The Whitefish girls tennis team, winners of the Class A Northwest Divisional Championships. (Scott Schindledecker photo)