NW 'A'
May 17, 2019 at 5:00 am | The Daily Inter Lake
It was a strong closing day for Whitefish on Friday at the Northwestern A Divisional tennis tournament at Flathead Valley Community College and The Summit.
The Bulldogs had the singles champions in Gracie Smyley and Brendan Buls and boys doubles champs in Mark Anderson/Colter Upton.
Polson’s Berkley Ellis and Qia Harlan won the girls doubles title.
Buls and Anderson were defending divisional champions. Anderson won doubles last year with Forrest Kobelt.
Whitefish also won the team titles for boys and girls. Polson was second and Columbia Falls third.
The last time Whitefish swept divisional team titles was 2006.
It’s the second straight for the boys and their third in four years.
“I couldn’t be happier to see this group of guys win another divisional title,” Whitefish boys coach Chris Schwaderer said.
“The camaraderie that I see every day is really special. These kids love to play tennis and help each other get better.”
The top four finishers in singles and doubles advance to Class A state play at Flathead Valley Community College next week.
Smyley defeated Hannah Schweikert 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
It was the second meeting of the season for the two standouts. Smyley won the first one in straight sets.
“It was excruciating as a coach (to watch), and it was the same for the parents and the participants,” Whitefish girls coach Patrick Dryden said.
“It had to be a fans delight.”
Smyley trailed 5-2 in the first set and battled back from there.
“She just eliminated her unforced errors (after that),” Dryden said, “still played aggressively.
“Hannah played extremely well,” he continued.
“She hit everything back, put a lot of spin on the ball. It was tough to break her serves. She served so well.”
Buls rolled by Joe McDonald of Polson in his final 6-0, 6-0.
“Brendan Buls is a deserving champion,” Schwaderer said.
“He worked his way through the bracket with pure efficiency. Brendan has worked so hard to get where he is, and I admire his commitment to the game and his cerebral approach. Not only does he want to make himself better, but he is also driven to help the other players on the team. He cares as much about their game as he does about his own. If this kid is not a tennis coach some day, I’ll be shocked.”
Anderson/Upton defeated John Gilk/Camryn Lingle of Columbia Falls in their final, 6-2, 6-2.
“Mark Anderson and Colter Upton are equally special,” Schwaderer said.
“They were both beginners three years ago, but due to their athleticism and love for tennis, they progressed rapidly. I give a lot of credit for their success to the fact that they are multi-sport athletes who know how to compete. They have not bought into the idea that they have to specialize in one sport in order to succeed. The variety of skills that they bring to tennis has helped them to be as successful as they are.”
The Whitefish boys and Polson girls are defending Class A state champions.
Correction
It was incorrectly reported that John Gilk and Tristan Grein of Columbia Falls finished first in boys doubles at the Northwestern A Divisional tennis tournament last year in Friday’s divisional tournament story. They finished second. Whitefish’s Mark Anderson and Forrest Kobelt were the champions.
Girls
Team Totals
Whitefish 45, Polson 40, Columbia Falls 20,Libby 17, Ronan 4
Singles
Gracie Smyley, W, def. Hannah Schweikert, CF, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Third Place
Shea McGuinness, P, def. Marissa Wood, L, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
Championship
Berkley Ellis/Qia Harlan, P, def. Aubrey Hanks/Olivia Potthoff, W, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)
Third Place
Ara Mercer/Megan Rost, P, def. Peyton Kastella/Jesse Grawunder, W, 6-3, 6-3
Boys
Team Totals
Whitefish 56, Polson 46, Columbia Falls 26, Libby 17, Ronan 8
Singles
Championship
Brendan Buls, W, def. Joe McDonald, P, 6-0, 6-0
Third Place
Jayce Cripe, W, def. Neils Getts, CF, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Championship
Mark Anderson/Colter Upton, W, def. John Gilk/Camryn Lingle, CF, 6-2, 6-2
Third Place
Kendal Forman-Webster/Bridger Wenzel, P, def. Anton Lefthand/Trevor Schultz, P, 6-4, 5-6, 6-3.
SWA
Corvallis Frenchman qualifies with host of Blue Devils, Hamilton Freshman snags SWA singles crown
HAMILTON — When 17-year-old Aubrey Poitier signed up to be an international exchange student, he hoped to experience a new culture and go out of his comfort zone.
"When you go to a place and you meet people, you realize how much more life there is out of the little area you live," said Poitier, who is from Western France. "To experience new friends, this landscape — wow, it's awesome — and I really wanted to try American football. That was really funny."
He checked that box with the Blue Devils football team in the fall.
Now Poitier also gets to experience Montana's Class A state tennis tournament
Corvallis' No. 2 singles player from across the pond won his consolation semifinal matchup Friday against Dillon's Sam Jones, 6-4, 6-2, to clinch a state berth. He then took home the bronze medal at the weekend's Southwest A divisional tennis tournament in Hamilton against Dillon's Matt Knight, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, using a flair that was fashioned overseas and a strategy perfected against his host-family "brother" and Blue Devil teammate.
The style came from watching some of the world's best players on television back home.
"He's got that Aubrey style, it's a little bit of that European style. He likes the touch-shots and the angles. He likes to put action on the ball," Corvallis boys' coach Chris Maul-Smith said. "Aubrey came out with some experience from France, he loves to watch tennis and he can use that as a style and a model.
"When he was out there playing today, he had it in mind what he wanted to do."
The game plan Poitier used in the consolation semifinal — a slew of returns and well-placed lob shots to the back of the court — was honed while playing Corvallis' No. 1 singles player Caleb Warnken.
Warnken placed second at the Southwest A divisional after falling in a thrilling three-set match with defending Class A state champ Bradley Rakich of Dillon, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The same long lanky frame that helped Warnken become one of the best tennis players in Western Montana and capture a silver medal on Friday was one Poitier has had to learn how to hit around at practice and at home, when the two play game after game of table tennis.
"He always wins, but I'm getting closer every time," Poitier said of Warnken, laughing. "He's very good at volleys, and he's got longer arm — that's my excuse every time (Warnken wins). My thing against him is lobs. I have to lob against him and hit my passing shots."
The scheme worked against Jones and qualified Poitier for state as a host of Blue Devil fans and teammates at Hamilton's Canyons Athletic Club applauded their adopted athlete.
"Back in France we compete in clubs. It's very interesting and very funny (compete for a school) and have that spirit behind you," Poitier said. "You want to win for them. It's very cool."
Poitier will have quite a few from Corvallis joining him at the Class A state tournament next week in Kalispell, too.
Along with Poitier and Warnken, the Blue Devil boys also bring doubles partners Ryan Hubbard and Jaymark Liedle. The two battled back from a semifinal loss against Butte Central to eventually capture the consolation championship. Liedle and Hubbard fell behind in the third-place game, too, dropping the first set, 6-3, but the boys maintained their focus to gather the third seed from the Southwest.
"When we played Butte Central we started out slow. Every time we started out slow," Hubbard said. "It was like warming up for us, but we got it together.
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"We started playing a little loose. We started building each other up," Liedle added.
With Warnken, Poitier, Liedle and Hubbard all scoring points, the Blue Devil boys — co-defending Class A champs — brought home a second-place divisional trophy.
The Corvallis girls took first by sending a slew to state, seven total, thanks in part to stellar doubles play. It was an all Corvallis doubles final, with the tournament's top seed, Megan Kirkland and Christina Weidkamp, meeting No. 7 seed pairing Molly Powell and Bailey Jessop.
The underdogs won, too, as the Powell/Jessop duo took a long Saturday afternoon battle against their teammates in a tiebreaker set, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Both squads are through to state, though.
"This is so awesome, it's never happened for me in all the years I've been coaching. The thing about this is no matter what, we're gonna win this match," Blue Devils girls' tennis coach Mike Fehr said before the championship doubles match. "We're taking a whole ton of players. This is the first time I've ever taken seven players."
In the girls' singles championship match, Corvallis was unable to capture the title as Madeline DeLeo, a Blue Devil sophomore, fell in battle of underclassmen to Hamilton freshman Eliana Foss.
Both girls showed class beyond their years throughout the tournament and on Saturday.
"Madeline played great, they're young kids and they're both going to be around playing some good tennis for a long time, they're both really improving their games," Hamilton coach Jeff Lewis said. "Madeline hit her corner shots yesterday really well to get here and today Eliana just landed her power shots.
"That's becoming (Foss') game, she's been working on it this year. She's a strong girl and she's got the control and she can bang that ball over like nobody's business."
Foss' strong forehand shots indeed ruled the day as the Bronc tennis player took home the divisional title in her first-ever tournament run.
"I'm too excited for words," Foss said, neatly summing up her emotions on winning the Southwest A title.
She takes the Southwest A's No. 1 seed to state and DeLeo will be No. 2. Butte Central's Tricia Joyce, the No. 2 seed entering divisional play, bested previously top seeded Ashlyn Sandall, of Dillon, in the consolation final. That gives Joyce the third seed at state and Sandall a four.
Rounding out the Top 4 in boys' doubles was Dillon's Mark Southam and Nathanile Leonardson as tourney champs and Butte Central's Aidan Petritz and Guido Ossello at No. 2.
On the girls' side, Stevensville's Jamyn Beller and Callie Cavill captured the consolation championship with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Corvallis' Cecily Gerber and Danielle Coates. For Beller and Cavill, who made it to state last year as a four seed, this year's third-place finish meant a lot.
"We always try to stay positive because that's how you can lose a game quickly if you get negative," Cavill said. "We both wanted to improve on last year and we knew we had to fight for it."
The Class A state tournament opens Thursday at Kalispell's Flathead Valley Community College courts
Team scores: Livingston 45, Havre 40, Belgrade 20, Lewistown 13.
Singles: 1, Bobbi Lima, Livingston; 2, McKenzie Tommerup, Havre; 3, Hanna Stokke, Belgrade; 4, Tessa Gatz, Lewistown.
Doubles: 1, Kodie Vondra/Sylvie Schoenen, Livingston; 2, Kadyn Acor/Cassidy Acor, Havre; 3, Shaniah Johnson/Debbie Chambers, Livingston; 4, Marcee Murphy/Devyn Solomon, Havre.
Team scores: Havre 52, Livingston 32, Lewistown 28, Belgrade 10.
Singles: 1, Brendon Johnson, Livingston; 2, Josh Warp, Havre; 3, Danner Purkett, Livingston; 4, Jayce Philipps, Lewistown.
Doubles: 1, Tommy Brown/Tyrel Kjersem, Havre; 2, Jake Huston/Reese Bulkley, Havre; 3, Nate Kindzerski/Logan McQuinn, Lewistown; 4, Jack Lane/Scott Tatum, Livingston.
Here are the results of the Eastern A Tennis Divisional in Glendive: Boys Team Scores Hardin 55 Glendive 29 Billings Central 19 Miles City 18 Girls Team Scores Hardin 51 Billings Central 33 Miles City 24 Glendive 12
