Tight team race after first day of Northern AA tennis
Flathead's Avery Cherot hits a return in a Round 1 match against Great Falls' Christa Holland during the Northern AA Divisional Tennis Tournament at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Kyler Knutson hits a return in a Round 1 match against Great Falls' Jacob Murray during the Northern AA Divisional Tennis Tournament at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Mariah Dickey hits a return in a Round 1 match against Great Falls' Bayley Keele during the Northern AA Divisional Tennis Tournament at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Rory Smith eyes a return in a Round 1 match against C.M. Russell's Kade Haverlandt during the Northern AA Divisional Tennis Tournament at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Ezra Epperley hits a return in a Round 1 match against Great Falls' Ethan Egan during the Northern AA Divisional Tennis Tournament at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Weather caused a delay of the start of the Northern AA Divisional tennis Thursday, but it wasn’t the weather in Kalispell.
The Great Falls High bus ran into whiteout conditions on the way to the tournament and was forced to stop.
Thankfully, that was the only snafu. The rain in town had stopped by mid-morning and Glacier coach Josh Munro estimated matches got underway only about an hour later than scheduled.
Matches were still being played near 8 p.m. because of that delay.
Otherwise, everything else went pretty much as expected.
“It’s gone more or less according to seed,” said Munro. “There’s been some tight matches where we knew they’d be tight. We knew it was going to be a battle.”
C.M. Russell leads both the boys and girls team races; Glacier boys are one point behind with 16, as are Flathead’s girls with 18 points to CMR’s 19.
“A lot of teams are in position, it’s going to be whoever wakes up in the morning and takes it,” Munro said.
Flathead’s Alexis Kersten defeated Mariah Dickey of Glacier in girls singles to advance to the semifinal, where she’ll see CMR’s Hannah Bingham.
Rory Smith of Glacier advanced to semis in boys’ singles, as did Flathead’s Nolan White.
In girls’ doubles, Flathead’s Marcella Mercer and Claire Morris advanced to the semis, and will play Colette Daniels and Haven Speer of Glacier.
Two Glacier boys doubles pairs advanced to semifinals and will play each other: Alex Galloway/Trey Engellant and Ethan Purdy/Harrison Sanders. Flathead’s Ethan Vandenbosch and Kutuk White are also in the semis.
“Those semifinal matches will really separate people,” Munro said.
Munro commended boys doubles pair Timmy Glanville and Ethan Woods on their match against CMR’s Carter Corn and Noah Stimac.
“I’ve got to compliment Timmy Glanville and Ethan Woods for an almost epic battle against a No. 1 seed,” Munro added. “That’s a team of seniors that have been playing a long time against a pair of sophomores who picked up a racket this summer.”
The second and final day of the tournament is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. today, with championship matches potentially starting around noon.
Northern AA Divisional Tournament
At FVCC
GIRLS
Team Scores — C.M. Russell 19, Flathead 18, Great Falls 11, Glacier 8.
Singles
Round 1
Hannah Bingham (CMR) d. Sarah Downs (GHS) 6-2, 6-0. Avery Cherot (FHS) d. Christa Holland (GFHS) 6-1, 6-2. Alexis Kersten (FHS) d. Olivia Buckingham (CMR) 6-0, 6-2. Mariah Dickey (GHS) d. Bayley Keele (GFHS) 6-1, 6-4. Ruby Jennings (CMR) d. Mackenzie Baker (GHS) 6-0, 6-1. Emma Hawkins (FHS) d. Brooke Dailey (GFHS) 6-0, 6-1. Kelly Jones (GFHS) d. Kiera Richards (CMR) 6-1, 6-0. Mayson Moore (FHS) d. Naomi Jutzi (GHS) 6-4, 7-5.
Round 2 (winner’s bracket)
Hannah Bingham (CMR) d. Avery Cherot (FHS) 6-2, 6-3. Alexis Kersten (FHS) d. Mariah Dickey (GHS) 6-0, 6-2. Ruby Jennings (CMR) d. Emma Hawkins (FHS) 6-1, 6-1. Kelly Jones (GFHS) d. Mayson Moore (FHS) 6-3, 6-3.
Round 3 (consolation bracket)
Bayley Keele (GFHS) d. Olivia Buckingham (CMR) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Sarah Downs (GHS) d. Christa Holland (GFHS) 6-0, 6-0. Kiera Richards (CMR) d. Naomi Jutzi (GHS) 6-1, 6-1. Mackenzie Baker (GHS) d. Brooke Dailey (GFHS) 6-3, 6-1. Katy Bitney/Tori Dobis (GHS) d. Maddie O’Leary/Meredith Semenza (GFHS) 6-0, 6-4.
Round 4 (consolation)
Avery Cherot (FHS) d. Bayley Keele (GFHS) 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
Round 1
Marcella Mercer/Claire Morris (FHS) d. Katy Bitney/Tori Dobis (GHS) 6-1, 7-5. Sky Krum/Leslie Miller (CMR) d. Maddie O’Leary/Meredith Semenza (GFHS) 6-1. 6-1. Collette Daniels/Haven Speer (GHS) d. Bridget Crowley/Patricia Hinchey (FHS) 6-1, 6-2. Mackenzie Tuss/Parker Humble (CMR) d. Delia Toon/Erica Wolff (GFHS) 6-2. 7-5. Baylee Furthmyre/Alison Harris (GFHS) d. Madi Bartlett/Rachel Jutzi (GHS) 6-3, 6-3. Ryann Walker/Olivia Martello (CMR) d. Kami Darrow/Clare Converse (FHS) 7-4, 6-1. Madison George/Becca Sherman (CMR) d. Madison Johnson/Nicole Mitchell (GHS) 6-0, 6-1. Mackenzie Thurston/Emma Tolan (GFHS) d. Marit Felton/Peyton Walseth (FHS) 6-2, 6-4.
Round 2 (winner’s bracket)
Marcella Mercer/Claire Morris (FHS) d. Skye Krum/Leslie Miller (CMR 6-1, 6-1. Madison Geeorge/Becca Sherman (CMR) d. Mackenzie Thurston/Emma Tolan (GFHS) 6-1, 6-2. Baylee Furthmyre/Alison Harris (GFHS) d. Ryann Walker/Olivia Martello (CMR) 7-5, 6-2.
Round 3 (consolation bracket)
Bridget Crowley/Patricia Hinchey (FHS) d. Delia Toon/Erica Wolff 6-0, 6-0.
BOYS
Team scores — C.M. Russell 17, Glacier 16, Flathead 13, Great Falls 10.
Singles
Round 1
Rory Smith (GHS) d. Kade Haverlandt (CMR) 6-0, 6-0. Ezra Epperly (FHS) d. Ethan Egan (GFHS) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Carson Rich (CMR) d. Jake Keller (GHS) 6-1, 6-1. Landon Molen (GFHS) d. Fynn Cox (FHS) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Jacob Murray (GFHS) d. Kyler Knutson (GHS) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Mac Bruce (CMR) d. Evan Sevaly (FHS) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Nolan White (FHS) d. Will Rudbach (GHS) 6-0, 6-0. Clay Walker (CMR) d. Cooper Reitz (GFHS) 6-3, 6-0.
Round 2 (winner’s bracket)
Rory Smith (GHS) d. Ezra Epperly (FHS) 6-0, 6-0. Carson Rich (CMR) d. Landon Molen (GFHS) 6-0, 6-0. Jacob Murray (GFHS) d. Mac Bruce (CMR) 6-3, 7-5. Nolan White (FHS) d. Clay Walker (CMR) 6-2, 6-3.
Round 3 (consolation bracket)
Jake Keller (GHS) d. Fynn Cox (FHS) 6-3, 6-1. Kade Haverlandt (CMR) d. Ethan Egan (GFHS) 6-2, 6-2. Will Rudbach (GHS) d. Cooper Reitz (GFHS) 6-4, 6-1. Evan Sevaly (FHS) d. Kyler Knutson (GHS) 6-3, 7-5.
Doubles
Round 1
Carter Corn/Noah Stimac (CMR) d. Beau Desmul/Dylan Rehbein (FHS) 6-1, 6-1. Timmy Glanville/Ethan Woods (GHS) d. Sterling Chargois/Jack Andweerson (GFHS) 6-1, 6-2. Ethan Vandenbosch/Kutuk White (FHS) d. Jackson McCoy/Josh Stimac (CMR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Kevin Gemberling/Ethan Kunka (GFHS) d. Simon Roston/Calvin Schmidt (GHS) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Alex Galloway/Trey Engellant (GHS) d. Cody Ramer/Quaid Ring (FHS) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Gavin Groshelle/Judah McAdam (GFHS) d. Brayden Davis/Aedan Bingham (CMR) 6-3, 6-4. Ethan Purdy/Harrison Sanders (GHS) d. Tommy Wells/Drew Lowry (FHS) 6-3, 6-1. Colton Martello/Brady Corn (CMR) d. Wyeth Hayes/Chad Wyman (GFHS) 6-2, 6-3.
Round 2 (winner’s bracket)
Ethan Vandenbosch/Kutuk White (FHS) d. Kevin Gemberling/Ethan Kunka (GFHS) 6-4, 6-0. Carter Corn/Noah Stimac (CMR) d. Timmy Glanville/Ethan Woods (GHS) 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. A;ex Galloway/Trey Engellant (GHS) d. Gavin Groshelle/Judah McAdam (GFHS) 6-3, 7-6(3). Ethan Purdy/Harrison Sanders (GHS) d. Colton Martello/Brady Cord (CMR) 6-2, 6-0.
Round 3 (consolation bracket)
Jackson McCoy/Josh Stimac (CMR) d. Simon Roston/Calvin Schmidt (GHS) 6-4, 6-2. Beau Desmul/Dylan Rehbein (FHS) d. Sterling Chargois/Jack Andweerson (GFHS) 6-4, 6-2. Tommy Wells/Drew Lowry (FHS) d. Wyeth Hayes/Chad Wyman (GFHS) 6-0, 6-1.