August 25, 2021 at 12:03 p.m.
Hodag volleyball snaps losing streak
Hodag volleyball snaps losing streak
The Hodags defeated Elcho in three sets as they went 1-2 overall in their season-opening quadrangular meet at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Rhinelander later fell to Hurley in straight sets and dropped a close three-set match to Chequamegon, but new head coach Dan Wolter said it was important for his team to get a win that was a long time coming. After going 0-10 last year, the team had not experienced victory since Aug. 27, 2019 when it defeated Bruce at the Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells.
"To get a win our first match out was great," he said. "It was a great feeling, great for the girls. Even getting one under the belt was a good feeling for them I know and definitely for our program."
Rhinelander rallied from down a set to defeat Elcho 16-25, 25-18, 15-11.
The Hornets used an 11-2 run early in the first game to seize control and Rhinelander never got any closer than 20-14. Rhinelander took the lead for good with seven straight points off Ava Lamers' serve in the second game. Elcho got back to within one midway through the set, but Lamers added a late ace surrounded by three Hornet errors to close out the set.
The Hodags raced out to a 7-1 lead in the third set before Elcho clawed back to make it 10-9. Reagan Hartman had an ace down the stretch, and the Hornets were plagued by a couple of late service errors as Rhinelander closed out the match.
"We had great serving going in that second set against Elcho, climbed back in and fought through," Wolter said. "That was a very entertaining match. They battled all three games and it was fun to watch. That's were we want to get to, not just fun to watch, but seeing rallies going, balls getting swung and dug."
Hurley won the four-team meet, winning all three matches in straight sets. The Northstars raced out to a 10-3 lead in Game 1 and a 10-1 lead in Game 2 to knock off Rhinelander 25-12, 25-11.
"They had a very good serving team," Wolter said. "They had several girls who were serving spot, line, back row. We didn't handle the ball all that well that game. That was pretty much the determining factor, just poor ball handling on serve, but they made it tough."
Rhinelander dug itself early holes in all three sets against Chequamegon, eventually falling 25-20, 24-26, 15-12.
The Hodags fell behind 13-4 in the first set, before fighting back to 16-13 on a run that included a pair of aces by Addi DeMeyer, but DeMeyer missed her next serve and Rhinelander was never able to get any closer than three points.
Down 20-14 in Game 2, the Hodags dug deep to avoid the sweep. Rhinelander answered with an 8-1 run to take a 22-21 lead, before a pair of errors put the Screaming Eagles back on top. Down 24-23, the Hodags staved off match point on a kill by freshman Kelsi Beran. Following a Chequamegon error, senior Brynn Brzycki struck a kill to the back left corner to force a decisive third set.
"Brynn had one to end the game where she drove one down the line and back cornered it in a great spot," Wolter said.
Down 5-1 in the third set, the Hodags rallied to tie it at 7, but Chequamegon answered with three straight points and never led by fewer than two the remainder of the set.
"I was very pleased how we ended the day, even though it was a loss," Wolter said.
Lamers finished with 19 kills in the three matches to lead the way for the Hodags. Beran chipped in 10 kills and four service aces in her varsity debut. Rivers Eagleson had seven kills and Brzycki chipped in four kills.
"Ava Lamers was huge for us today. She had a couple of really big swings, putting the ball to the floor and picking up our girls," Wolter said. "Rivers had four or five very big kills against Chequmaegon that really kept us in (the match). Kesli had four or five very big swings."
DeMeyer and Maddi Roeser split time at setter, securing 22 and 15 assists, respectively. Hartman had 23 digs and Carly Schmidt chipped in 10 digs.
"I was very impressed with our back row with Carly Schmidt and Reagan Hartman popping balls back up, staying in place, getting setters the option to put good balls up," Wolter said.
The Hodags are back in action today and tomorrow at the Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells and will open Great Northern Conference play at home against Lakeland next Thursday.
"I think if we come out down in the Dells the way we played the third match against Chequamegon today, we have a good chance of winning a handful of games down there," Wolter said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.