Boys win seventh conference dual

It's been 34 days since the Whitefish boys tennis team last lost a dual.

In an incredible stretch of tennis that dates back to April 17, the Bulldogs have tallied eight wins in a row, including victories over Polson, Libby and Ronan last week to wrap up the regular season.

"I couldn't be any happier with the regular season," Bulldog coach Chris Schwaderer said. "I'm really excited about the postseason and the prospect of getting as far as we can in the divisional and state tournaments. We're building the program, and I hope we can create a lot of excitement to get more kids involved."

The strong push to the finish bumped their record to 7-1 in league play and set the stage for a competitive run in the divisional tourney, slated for today and Friday in Kalispell.

Whitefish started their impressive three-game stretch last week with a 4-3 dual victory over Polson on Thursday, marking the second time the 'Dogs have topped the Pirates this season.

Matt Roberts of Polson battled hard to edge the Bulldog's Joel Mallams in three sets in the No. 1 singles match, but Whitefish's deep roster proved to be too much for the Pirates down the stretch.

Nick Jack and Casey Beiser scored a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles to put Whitefish over the top.

Also scoring wins were Jake Morison and Francisco Valle in singles, and Conner Ellis and Joel Bacher in doubles.

On Friday at Libby, the 'Dogs grabbed another 4-3 win to split the season series with the Loggers.

Morison scored a two-set win over Crawford Denning 6-2, 7-5, Valle won in two long sets over Zack Schikora, and Cody Ling rolled over Payton Adams 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 4 singles match to clinch the dual victory.

Whitefish capped the season in style by cruising past Ronan 6-1 at home on Saturday.

Mallams got back into the winners circle with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Colten Cheff as the 'Dogs swept the singles matches.

"I'm really proud of everyone for putting all those wins in a row," Schwaderer said. "It's great to win the duals, but that doesn't mean a whole lot going into divisional."

The top-four singles players and the top-three doubles teams at the divisional tourney will move on to the Class A state tournament on May 27-28 in Billings.

Mallams will be playing at No. 1 singles in the league tourney, and a new doubles team of Tyler Schiff and Valle will be the No. 1 seed in doubles.

"Tyler and Francisco have never played together," Schwaderer explained. "But, we had to play them together due to injuries. I think they're potentially a very strong doubles team."

Mallams has a nice path in the divisional tourney, Schwaderer said, as he will play a No. 3 seed in the first round.

"Joel has some tough matches, but I think he has an opportunity to win it all," Schwaderer said.

The coach likes the team's odds of wining the tournament, noting that Whitefish's roster is 'very strong across the middle."

"The first goal is to win divisional as a team," Schwaderer said. "We have as good of a chance as anyone."

The second goal is to get as many kids to the state tournament as possible.

"The two goals go hand in hand," he said.

The divisional tournament starts today in Kalispell at 10 a.m. at Flathead Valley Community College and at The Summit.