Raiders served a 5-2 loss
MEDFORD GIRLS TENNIS
Medford’s number-two and numberthree doubles teams came away with victories Tuesday, but a sweep of the singles matches propelled the Regis-McDonell co-op to a 5-2 non-conference win over the visiting Raiders.
The meet gave the Raiders their first look of the season at players that some of them could match up with in WIAA Division 2 subsectional play, which is quickly approaching on Oct. 4 at Altoona.
Seniors Alyssa Brandner and Eryka Seidl were Medford’s doubles winners in flight two. They downed Ava Smith and Karah Nelson 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 7-5 together since becoming partners on Aug. 23.
In flight three, senior Chloe Werner and junior Madison Clarkson improved to 5-0 as teammates with their 6-0, 6-2 win over Regis-McDonell’s Lily Edison and Morgan Bergh.
Regis-McDonell’s Teigan Petersilka and Olivia Zavaleta swept Medford’s Myah Smith and Masaeda Krug 6-0, 6-0 at number-one doubles. Petersilka is a twotime state qualifier in doubles play and Zavaleta is a strong new freshman for that program.
Audrey Ruesch came close to extending the number-three singles match to three sets. Ashley Chilson won the first set 6-2, then Ruesch pushed the second set to a 6-6 tie. Chilson won the tiebreaker 7-1 to take the set 7-6 and the match.
Elsewhere, the Raiders ran into some tough matchups.
Colleen Callaghan defeated Morgan Huegli in the number-one match 6-0, 6-1. Brittany Martin swept Makayla Motte 6-0, 6-0 at number-two and Therese Kern, another freshman, swept Christine Czeshinski 6-0, 6-0 at flight four.
Medford fell to 5-12 in dual meets this season.
The Raiders have two more to go today, Thursday, when they host a doubledual with Ashland and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at 1:30 p.m.
From there, it’s on to the Great Northern Conference tournament Saturday, which is hosted this year by Lakeland. After digging an early hole with a 6-1 loss to Lakeland on Aug. 18, Rhinelander has come all the way back to take a 76-72 lead over the Thunderbirds in the chase for the team title in the GNC. Stevens Point Pacelli sits in third place with 68 points.
Medford is currently in fifth place with 48 points, six behind Columbus Catholic. But, Newman Catholic, with 44 points is poised to move ahead of Medford after it makes up a dual meet with 1-5 Antigo today, Thursday.
Individual awards will also be determined at Saturday’s meet with All-GNC first-team honors going to each flight champion, second-team honors going to runners-up and honorable mention being awarded to third-place finishers in each flight.
