October 4, 2017 at 2:40 p.m.
Hodags spike Hatchets
RHS beats Tomahawk for first time since 2012 on Dig Pink night
Hodags spike Hatchets
Ally Seefeldt got a couple of tip kills and Makayla Kuester came up with an ace as the Hodags rallied to beat Tomahawk 26-24 in the fourth set and defeat the Hatchets 3-1 Tuesday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
It was Rhinelander's first win over Tomahawk since 2012 and moved the Hodags to .500 overall in the GNC, but the win didn't come easy.
After taking the first two sets 25-17, 25-15, the Hodags dropped the third 24-26 and were down 23-21 in the fourth with top offensive weapon Hope Wissbroecker in the back row when coach Kathy Wawrzynowicz spent her final timeout of the set.
"I told them we have to have it. We do not want to go five (sets) with them and, gosh, we pulled it out," Wawrzynowicz said. "Ally Seefeldt came up with a couple of big tips and then we got the serve back. I told Makayla Kuester to serve two aces. Well, she got one at the end, so I was happy with that."
Wissbroecker finished with 26 kills on the night and was simply dominant at times during the match. She racked up four kills as part of a 7-1 run for the Hodags to close out the first set. She served back-to-back aces to finish the second and had a string of five straight putaways to give Rhinelander a 9-6 lead in the fourth.
But the service game that has typically been a strong suit of Rhinelander's this season was off Tuesday night. The Hodags were less than 90 percent from the service line (78 of 87) and struggled at times handling Tomahawk's servers. Courtney Theiler had three aces in the third set alone as the Hatchets built a 17-13 lead.
"I wasn't real happy with our serves tonight, and then we got sloppy with our serve receives," Wawrzynowicz said. "The first two games I thought we did that well and then the third and fourth game we kind of fell apart. And they had two good servers. They're tough to pass. We kind of let our passing fall apart."
The Hodags dug out of the hole in the third set and rallied to take a 24-22 lead. Freshman Hannah Worachek served the potential match point into the net, however. Two more ball handling errors and a Taylor Shilts ace later, and the Hatchets climbed back into the match, down 2-1.
"Maybe we got a bit negative out there on court because everyone wanted to win so bad - me included probably," Wawrzynowicz said of the third-set swoon.
Wissbroecker added nine digs, seven blocks and four service aces for the Hodags. Seefeldt had six kills and 20 assists. Cami Buchmann and Molly Wagler both chipped in four kills and a pair of blocks.
"Obviously, we need contributions from everybody," Wawrzynowicz said. "This team cannot rely on one or two people. We have to have the contributions and I think we're doing that."
Stephanie Kuester had a team-high 27 digs while Makayla Kuester added 22 assists.
The Hodags had dropped 11 consecutive matches to the Hatchets, including a 3-1 loss last month during the first leg of the GNC tournament in Mosinee. Hope Wissbroecker and the rest of the RHS senior class finally beat the Hatchets for the first time in nine tries. The last time Rhinelander topped Tomahawk was when Wissbroecker's older sister, Taylor, was a senior.
"That was the first thing Hope said in the huddle," Wawrzynowicz said. "I didn't say anything to them. Hope said it in the huddle. It's the first time we've beat them since her sister (Taylor) played. I was pleased. We were still undefeated at home, which is really nice and we'll just keep working at it."
Dig Pink night a success
Tuesday was Rhinelander's Dig Pink night for cancer awareness. The Hodags sported pink T-shirts for warmups, Tomahawk wore pink jerseys for the match and the majority of the crowd at the Miazga Gym was clad in pink shirts the team was selling that sold out before the start of the varsity match.
Those shirts were being sold for charity, as were some raffle baskets, a 50/50 raffle and concessions. Wawrzynowicz said the team plans to donate the money it collected Tuesday to the James Beck Cancer Center at Ascension St. Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander.
"I'm really pleased with the turnout and how supportive everyone was of us tonight," she said. "I have to give credit to the JV3 kids, JV2 kids and JV kids that really worked tonight during the match and, once again, for (assistant coach) Anne Buchmann who put a lot of this together for us."
Conference tourney ahead
The Hodags will play Northland Pines, Antigo and Lakeland Saturday during the second GNC meet of the season at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River.
Rhinelander defeated all three teams earlier in the season, including a five-setter over Northland Pines back on Sept. 19 when the Hodags rallied after relinquishing a 2-0 lead.
But the Eagles have already knocked off conference leaders Mosinee and Medford at home and Antigo has played better volleyball since a stunning 3-0 loss to the Hodags Sept. 7 at the Miazga Gym.
"We have to play tough volleyball," Wawrzynowicz said. "We have to be ready to move, serve well and we have to have contributions from everybody."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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