A final serve

The Ashland Oredockers tennis program’s senior dynamic doubles team of Bodee Mikkonen and Austin Vyskocil, as has been previously reported, earned their second straight trip to state on May 30 where they dropped a tough 7-5, 6-3 decision in the opening round.The accomplishments of both athletes, who were named co-most valuable players for the 2024 season, were recognized by second year Head Coach Gary Stevens, who remarked that Vyskocil and Mikkonen displayed a rare chemistry on the court.

“This doubles team had been working together for several years,” Stevens said, “so they really knew each other’s tendencies and habits. They were truly on the same page and worked as a team. I always saw them trying to bring each other up when the other was down, instead of blaming each other like some doubles teams can do at times.”

The duo went an impressive 15-3 during the season, against competition that understandably was not as strong in some instances as the teams they faced in the southern part of the state where tennis is played year round and with facilities and resources that do not exist in the Northwoods. But according to Stevens that deficit did not obviously impact Vyskocil and Mikkonen.

“Even though this was a loss (at state),” the coach said, “it was a nice statement for the program. We genuinely challenged a top seed opponent at the state level. I know for a fact that several of the players and spectators now know what Ashland Tennis is about. At the match you could actually sense a change in the teams’ thinking about Ashland. They may have thought that we were going to be an easy first round (match) and you could tell that changed really quick in the first set.”

It’s a bittersweet moment for the coach as his program says goodbye to two of its best players in recent memory.

“It is going to be sad to see these two go,” Stevens reflected. “They were real models for the younger kids. They worked hard and in the end showed what happens when you put in the effort. However, I know both are going to go out and do great things whether they play tennis at the next level or not.”

Bodee Mikkonen and Austin Vyskocil were both unavailable to comment for this article.