Glacier sweeps tennis titles at AA divisional

Glacier claimed all four titles at the three-team Northern AA divisional tennis tournament at Flathead Valley Community College Friday.

Senior Kellen Bates won his fourth consecutive divisional singles title with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Glacier teammate Hunter Blalack in the final while Katya Kulikova downed Great Falls’ Molly Crum 6-2, 6-3 to win the girls singles final.

Both doubles finals were all-Glacier matches. Spencer Johnson and Britt Walton easily defeated teammates Izaak Castren and Logan Iverson 6-0, 6-1 in the boys final and Kailea Vaudt and Veronica Walton beat Kirstyn Haugenoe and Kali Mathison 6-2, 6-0 in the girls final. All four teams qualified for the state tournament.

With his right thumb in a splint, the left-handed Bates didn’t have his usual two-handed backhand at his disposal, but a variety of drop shots and lobs kept Blalack from sitting on his slice backhand.

“I thought I might not be able to hit as good of shots as I usually do,” Bates said. “So I just had to go out there and play harder and get to more balls to make him hit more balls. I thought I did a good job of, when he had me on the run, just throwing up some lobs, making him hit that extra shot, so that’s what I was happy with today.”

Both players held their first service games in the opening set, then five straight breaks kept the match even until Bates held to take a 5-3 lead. Bates broke Blalack’s ensuing service game to win the set with the help of three unforced errors from Blalack.

Those errors were the difference in a close set, as both players finished with one ace and six winners, but Bates committed 11 unforced errors to Blalack’s 15.

Bates won a long service game that included three deuce points to open the second set. The first break came three games later when Bates took a 3-1 lead. He then held at 15 to consolidate the break, then went ahead 5-1 with another break of Blalack’s serve.

“I was tired, so that was getting to me,” said Blalack, who had advanced to the final with a marathon three-set win over Flathead’s Matt Widen earlier in the day. “On his services games I was like, ‘maybe I should try to save some energy for my services games,’ because he hits big serves.”

Blalack got the break he needed to extend the match, then hit two winners to hold serve and make the score 5-3. Bates closed out the match on his serve, hitting a wide kicker on match point to set up a forehand winner.

Bates’ wide serve gave Blalack fits when he got it in.

“I play with him a lot and I’m usually used to that, but he was kicking it pretty high today,” Blalack said.

But it was an inconsistent shot, especially in the second set when Bates double-faulted 10 times.

“I just didn’t really have the feel there,” Bates said of his serve. “Sometimes I just stepped up to the line and missed two straight serves. It just didn’t feel good. I was able to close it out on my serve, so I’m happy about that, but I made it way too tough on myself. I could’ve been on and off a bit quicker if I would’ve served better.”

Bates finished the match with 13 winners and 27 unforced errors. Blalack hit 10 winners and 28 unforced errors.

Widen beat Glenn Strickler, 6-4, 7-5, in an all-Flathead match for third place. Both will advance to next week’s Class AA state tournament along with Bates and Blalack.

Kulikova’s divisional title was her second in a row, but she had to work for it, especially in the semifinals against Glacier teammate Hailey Blalack.

A slew of unforced errors off Blalack’s racket gave Kulikova a 6-0 win in the first set, but Blalack bounced back with a 6-2 win in the second. Kulikova won the deciding set 6-3 in a match that lasted nearly two hours.

In contrast, Crumm cruised into the final with a 6-0, 6-0 semifinal win over Flathead’s Ashli Petek.

Kulikova didn’t look fatigued in the final after logging more court time in the semis, but she said the combination of long points and high 70s temperatures took a toll.

“I was really worn out,” she said. “I had really long matches today ... plus it was really hot outside, so for the final I just had to stay consistent and keep the ball in play. Work the rally I guess.”

Blalack handled Great Falls’ Abigail Davidson 6-0, 6-1 in the third-place match.

After losing in the second round on Thursday, Flathead’s girls doubles team of Sarah Christiansen and Barrie Sugarman won three consolation matches to claim third place. Their consolation semifinal win over Great Falls’ Jackie Santin and Laura Gilligan included an 8-6 second-set tiebreaker that clinched their place at the state tournament.

“It gave me a few more gray hairs, but they played well and are getting their act together as a team,” Flathead coach Sue Corrigan said.

Christiansen and Sugarman avenged their second-round loss against Glacier’s Molly Wright and Ingrid Ericksen with a 6-2, 6-4 win in the third-place match. Both teams qualified for the state tournament.

The Class AA state tournament is Thursday and Friday in Great Falls. The top four boys and girls singles players and doubles teams from each division qualify.

Boys

Team scores - Glacier 57, Great Falls 29, Flathead 17

Singles

Championship

Kellen Bates, Gla, def. Hunter Blalack, Gla, 6-3, 6-3

Semifinals

Bates def. Glenn Strickler, F, 6-0, 6-0

Blalack def. Matt Widen, F, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3

Third place

Widen def. Strickler 6-4, 7-5

Consolation semifinals

Widen def. Tyler Beagley, F, 6-0, 6-1

Strickler def. Jordan Bridwell, Gla, 6-0, 6-1

Consolation quarterfinals

Beagley def. Jourdan Goudatis, GFH, 6-4, 6-1

Bridwell def. Ryan Porch, Gla, 6-1, 6-0

Doubles

Championship

Spencer Johnson/Britt Walton, Gla, def. Izaak Castren/Logan Iverson, Gla, 6-0, 6-1

Semifinals

Johnson/Walton def. Nate Sheffels/Josh Haagenson, GFH, 7-5, 6-1

Castren/Iverson def. Mitch Byrnes/Brad Jones, Gla, 6-3, 6-4

Third place

Scheffels/Haagenson def. Kylar Clifton/Taylor Lunn, GFH, 6-0, 6-4

Consolation semifinals

Scheffels/Haagenson def. Jordan Jernigan/Tanner Lightbourne, GFH, 6-3, 6-0

Clifton/Lunn def. Byrnes/Jones 6-1, 6-3

Consolation quarterfinals

Clifton/Lunn def. Ryan Edwards/Greg Jones, Gla, 6-2, 7-5

Jernigan/Lightbourne def. Andrew Kromarek/Andrew Leo, GFH, 6-2, 6-3

Girls

Team scores - Glacier 60, Great Falls 25, Flathead 18

Singles

Championship

Katya Kulikova, Gla, def. Molly Crum, GFH, 6-2, 6-3

Semifinals

Kulikova def. Hailey Blalack, Gla, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

Crum def. Ashli Petek, F, 6-0, 6-0

Third place

Blalack def. Abigail Davidson, GFH, 6-0, 6-1

Consolation semifinals

Blalack def. Mary McDunn, GFH, 6-1, 6-1

Davidson def. Petek, 6-0, 6-3

Consolation quarterfinals

Davidson def. Hannah Davis, Gla, 6-1, 6-1

McDunn def. Jenna Boles, F, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles

Championship

Kailea Vaudt/Veronica Walton, Gla, def. Kali Mathison/Kirstyn Haugenoe, Gla, 6-2, 6-0

Semifinals

Vaudt/Walton def. Jackie Santin/Laura Gilligan, GFH, 6-1, 6-2

Mathison/Haugenoe def. Molly Wright/Ingrid Ericksen, Gla, 6-2, 6-1

Third place

Sarah Christiansen/Barrie Sugarman, F, def. Wright/Ericksen, 6-2, 6-4

Consolation semifinals

Christiansen/Sugarman def. Santin/Gilligan, 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Wright/Ericksen def. Bailey Thomas/Libbey Fellows, GFH, 6-2, 7-5

Consolation quarterfinals

Christiansen/Sugarman def. Mackenzie Williams/Katie Goodnough, F, 7-5, 6-2

Thomas/Fellows def. Kayla Harwood/Keckeley Habel, Gla, no score given