It will be hard for the Whitefish boys tennis team to do much better than it did last year, when the Bulldogs swept the Class A state tournament in both singles and doubles en route to a convincing first-place finish.
But this year, as the Bulldogs proved with yet another Western A divisional title last week, they’re up for the challenge – especially when they’re playing so close to home. The Class A state tournament for boys and girls will be held this week in Kalispell on May 21-22, with matches scheduled at Flathead Valley Community College and the Glacier Tennis Club courts at the Summit Medical Fitness Center.
The Bulldogs wrapped up their fourth straight Western A divisional tennis championship at FVCC last week. Senior Matt Harris led the way, earning his fourth straight divisional title by taking first place in singles.
His freshman and sophomore years, Harris took the singles crown at divisionals, while last year he shifted to doubles for a season to allow Renzo Caimi, a Chilean exchange student, to have the No. 1 singles spot on the team. Caimi went undefeated en route to the state singles title. Meanwhile, Harris teamed up with Brendan Viscomi and took the doubles title.
Now Harris is hoping it’s his turn in singles. He placed second in 2007 as a sophomore, losing the title match to Billings Central’s standout Jordan Hatzell. As a team, the Bulldogs finished second that year.
Harris will be joined by teammate Tanner Hosek in the singles bracket at state this week and by teammates Matt Whitehead and Zachariah Deister, who will represent Whitefish in the doubles bracket. Harris faces Ethan Selig in the first round.
Other boys from Western A in the state tourney are Bigfork’s Scott Taylor, who lost to Harris in the divisional title match, and Libby’s Alex Cislo for singles. In doubles, there will be Kyle Cooper and Shad Giles of Polson; Grant Getts and Jake Ronish of Columbia Falls; and Cyrus Maloney and Nate Broden of Libby.
Getts and Ronish beat Whitehead and Deister in the championship match at divisionals.
In girls action, Libby’s Jackie Mee, a junior, cruised to her third straight divisional championship, beating Polson’s Jane Probst 6-0, 6-0 in the title match. But Polson was able to capture the team title, its second straight. The Lady Pirates also won the state championship last year.
Mee will play Anaconda’s Emily Morani in her first match at state. She made it to the quarterfinals last year before losing to Havre’s Kate Mariani. Probst will square off against Alex Ricketts from Livingston.
Kate Klundt, a senior at Whitefish, finished third at divisionals to earn a berth to the state tournament. She will face Abby Knab of Fergus to kick of the tournament. Klundt beat Knab last year 6-3, 6-3 in a loser-out match before falling to teammate Brielle Menegazzi.
Joining Mee, Probst and Klundt as singles representatives from Western A at this week’s tournament is Bigfork’s Jade Bosic. She kicks off the tournament against Mollie Morrow from Livingston.
There are also four doubles squads from Western A: Anne Miller and McCara Cullen of Whitefish; Kayla Rochini and Kendyall Rochin from Polson; Nicole Newman and Anna Valentine of Libby; and Heather Mathison and Kelsie Jones from Polson.