Bigfork tennis dominates

Saturday brought clouds, lots of wind, a down pour of rain, popcorn kernel-sized hail, sunshine and a whole lot of high school tennis to Bigfork as the town played host to the annual Bigfork Flight Tournament.

Bigfork fared well in the all-day tournament with several players taking the top-honors in the round-robin tournament which was attended by Mission, Cut Bank and Troy.

"It was a great day of tennis," said Paul Sullivan, one of Bigfork's two co-coaches. "It was good to see the other Class B schools that we are going to be up against in a few weeks at state."

In the No. 1, pool Bridger Mahlum placed first in boys singles and Ryan Gembala and Evan Jordt, placed first in boys doubles. "Bridger played a good match against a Cut Bank player that played well off Bridger's pace" said Paul Wallin, Bigfork's other head coach. "Bridger avenged an early season loss to a St. Ignatius player, easily beating him. Ryan and Evan played their best match of the season against a Cut Bank team that had good results this year. They started to take control of the net, using their athleticism to push the other team away from the net."

The Valkyries placed second in their No. 1 matches with Jade Bosic playing singles and Hannah Barrett and Claire Wilken holding down the doubles spot.

"Hannah Barrett and Claire Wilken played well in a loss to an athletic Cut Bank team," said Wallin. "It was good exposure for them to see girls that are very aggressive."

Colter Mahlum and Carolina Tietzal earned first-place finishes for Bigfork in the No. 2 boys and girls pools, respectively.

"Carolina played exceptionally well," Sullivan said. "She was hitting really well."

Bigfork's Nate Roberson and Seth Roessmann earned the top spot in the No. 2 boys doubles pool. Kianna Wicklund and Ariel Stallknecht took second place in the girls doubles.

"I thought our doubles players really rose to the occasion," Sullivan said. "Our singles players had great results too. It gave me a lot of confidence for state."

Bigfork had a clean sweep in the No. 3 pool with John Lyon and McKinze Shults winning their respective pools. In the No. 4 group, Dylan Reichenbach bested the boys singles competition and Emily Hardman took second among the girls. There was no No. 3 or 4 doubles play.

"Bigfork played well. The boys had a really good day," Wallin said. "In most cases, Cut Bank and Bigfork matched up for the championship."

The flight tournament wasn't the only day of competition for Bigfork last week. The Vikes and Vals traveled to Ronan on Friday where the boys won 5-2 and the girls won 7-0.

The coaches did some mixing up of their boys and paired the Mahlum brothers together as the No. 1 doubles team and split the duo who usually play in that spot, cousins Jordt and Gembala, into the No. 1 and 2 singles spots, respectively.

"We wanted to take them out of their comfort zone and mix things up for them," Sullivan said. "A good doubles player is a good singles player and a good singles player can play good doubles. You can learn something from playing both. It was a good experience for them. To have them play a little bit tougher matches is food for their game all around."

Jordt won his match over Colter Cheff, 6-2, 6-0. The Mahlum duo won theirs as well. They defeated Austin Butler and Hunter Shima 6-4, 6-3. Gembala dropped his match in a close battle with Shima, 6-4, 3-6, (9-7).

Bigfork's only other loss in Ronan was handed to Roberson and Roessmann by Cheff and Jeff Leo, who beat them 6-3, 6-3.

Tuesday the Vikes and Vals hosted Glacier, which sent mostly junior varsity players. Bigfork came out on top with a 4-3 victory for the boys and a 5-2 victory for the girls.

Bridger Mahlum dominated his opponent, Brandon Simpson, in the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-1. His younger brother Colter Mahlum bested his opponent, Michael Boettcher, in the No. 2 match, 6-2, 7-6.

In boys doubles play, Jordt and Gembala were defeated in the No. 1 match by Graham Schmaltz and Kyle Schmuch, 6-1, 6-3. Roberson and Roessmann won the No. 2 match over Karl Helling and Ryan Edwards, 0-6, 7-6, (7-6).

The Vals won all of their matches except in the No. 1 spots.

Bosic lost to Veronica Walton 6-2, 6-0.

Barrett and Wilken were defeated by Kaitlyn Hacke and Shelby Ballard, 6-3, 6-4.

Both of the girls No. 2 matches were tough battles. Ultimately, Deaton beat Montana Ziglar, 4-6, 6-0, (6-3). Stallknecht and Wicklund nudged Lauren Jones and Brianna Walling 7-5, 3-6, (7-6).

The Bigfork tennis team was to play in Whitefish on Tuesday, but that match was postponed due to weather.

The team now has a much welcomed break this week and won't be back in competition again until Monday when the Vikes and Vals host Ronan.

The Bigfork girls also host Eureka the following day. Both matches are set for a 4 p.m. start time.

The Vikes and Vals have those matches and just two others remaining before the girls play in the divisional tournament May 14 in Bigfork.

All of the boys and those girls that qualify at divisionals will advance to state, which begins May 20 in Huntley Project.

With just a few weeks left in the season Wallin said he is happy with where his team is at, but also hopes the players are able to make some adjustments prior to tournament time.

"We continue to make improvements in our play," Wallin said. "Our positioning in doubles is still a little off. We are working on our spacing on the court. The boys have to continue to be aggressive at the net. Their success will be dictated by pushing their opponents away from the offensive part of the court."