Mallams runner-up at divisional; team takes second

When Bulldog tennis player Joel Mallams started the season in March, he likely didn't think he'd be in a winner-take-all match with one of the state's best netters while vying for a divisional championship.

In fact, Mallams opened the year as a doubles player and only moved to singles earlier this month — but Friday at the FVCC tennis courts, the senior was the player to beat for Whitefish.

He started with two dominating wins in the opening rounds on Thursday, in cold and gusty winds, to set the tone. The next day, he kept it rolling by claiming a classic 24-game, two-set win on Friday over top-ranked Matt Roberts of Polson to move into the finals.

Although Cree Maloney of Libby eventually dropped Mallams 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the finals, the improbable run through the divisional tourney was a great display of his — and the team's — determination to win.

"Joel has been a lot of fun to watch," Bulldog coach Chris Schwaderer said. "He came in as the No. 3 seed, and on paper, he was suppose to take third place. But Joel played better than he was supposed to, and he came pretty darn close to winning the whole thing."

The same could be said for the Whitefish team as a unit.

Pegged as a rebuilding year for the 'Dogs, the four-time defending divisional champs nearly clinched a fifth title by sheer grit. In the end, they came up eight points back to a talented Libby group, but Schwaderer said the team's performance was outstanding and exceeded everyone's expectations.

"At the start of the year, I thought we were young and inexperienced," Schwaderer said. "But we had just the right chemistry and enough kids who improved and got us into a position where we are now among the best teams out there."

The doubles team of Connor Ellis and Joel Bacher exemplified the team's evolution from the start of the season. The duo came in as a No. 8 seed in the divisional tourney and ended up taking third place.

"Connor was on the JV team at the start of the season," Schwaderer said. "(The pair) beat doubles teams they shouldn't have. They have a scrappy game and are able to overachieve, and that's what it takes.

"This team as a whole has heart and the ability to play above the best game they have."

Ellis, Bacher and Mallams move on to the state Class A tennis tourney slated for today and Friday in Billings.

Schwaderer expects the three will go into the tourney loose and put their best effort forward.

"We're looking to have fun and take in the spectacle that is the state tourney," he said. "There is no reason we can't win some matches and score some points."

Mallams earned his way to the divisional finals by knocking off Roberts in two sets 7-5, 7-5.

After taking the first set, Mallams fell behind 5-2 in the second frame as Roberts used his service and baseline strokes to dominate the pace of play. The turning point came in the eighth game at deuce when Mallams placed a ball deep in Roberts court.

As Roberts chased it down, he lunged for a return and tweaked his calf. Mallams went on to win the game and grab some momentum from Roberts, who was tentative with the pulled muscle.

While Roberts tried to shake the injury, Mallams edged back into the set. He won the next game after going to deuce and swept the following game 40-0 to tie the set at 5-5. Unforced errors doomed Roberts at the end as Mallams won his fifth consecutive game to take the match in a dramatic comeback.

In the finals against Maloney, Mallams battled back in the second set from being down 3-4 to claim a 7-5 win and force a winner-take-all scenario in the third frame.

He opened the third with a win and stayed close at 2-3, but Maloney's precise baseline shots eventually prevailed.

"Cree is really good," Schwa-derer said. "He has a really solid game and hasn't been beaten much this year. He's legitimately the best singles player in division."

Also scoring wins for Whitefish were Jake Morison, Austin Sattler in singles, and Tyler Schiff and Fancisco Valle, and Nick Jack and Casey Beiser in doubles.

Whitefish ended the tourney in second place with 40 points, behind Libby's 48 points.