November 8, 2021 at 9:04 a.m.
Team review: RHS volleyball
Hodags spikers made gains in attempt to get back into the win colum
Team review: RHS volleyball
The Hodags went 4-30 overall on the season - more wins than the team had in the previous three seasons combined - but was shut out of the win column in the Great Northern Conference for a fourth straight year.
Dan Wolter moved from assistant coach to head coach over the summer, taking over after Jim Povolo resigned the position following one season. Wolter was the team's fourth different head coach in five years.
Though Rhinelander did not win a set in conference play, it started to show some signs of life down the stretch. The team was getting more blocks and digs, and better attacks as a result. Set scores were more competitive than the were at the start of the season.
"Hopefully its kind of a new milestone or whatever you want to call it for this program," Wolter said following the team's WIAA playoff exit at Merrill. "Hopefully everyone starts working as hard as they did and we can get some winners out of these next couple of years."
Here are five storylines from this year's season.
Early wins
The Wolter era began well enough, as Rhinelander rallied from down a set to defeat Elcho 16-25, 25-18, 15-11 in his first game at the helm during the season-opening Hodag Invite.
Rhinelander almost got a second victory in the lid lifter, dropping a close three-set match to Chequamegon.
"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."
Some of that success carried over into the team's annual trip to Wisconsin Dells during the final weekend of August. The Hodags swept Bruce, a tiny northwestern Wisconsin school with an enrollment of 140 students, in pool play and then beat Bruce again the following day during the bracket portion of the two-day tournament.
Rhinelander crossed paths with Bruce once more in late September at the Phillips Invite, winning once again in straight sets.
Scrappy late
The Hodags did not find the same success within the Great Northern Conference, but were more competitive during the second half of the season.
Rhinelander scored more points in each rematch with a conference opponent, compared to the first meeting. The Hodags' points per set also increased in the rematches, from 12.8 to 15.3.
"We had a lot of very long, long rallies, which is a great sign to see coming into the end of the year - from where we started to where we are right now," Hodag coach Dan Wolter said. "It's been a long journey, but they have definitely been showing improvement and we're competing in games now."
The Hodags had a couple of instances down the stretch where they pushed Northland Pines to extra points, suffering a 26-24 loss in both league play and as part of a non-conference tournament in Wausau. In the playoff loss at Merrill, Rhinelander led 13-3 and 20-15 in the third set, but was unable to extend the match.
Block party
A big part - literally and figuratively - of what made Rhinelander more competitive this season was its ability to put up a more effective block.
Senior Ariel Pauer was second in the GNC at 1.04 blocks per set. As a team, Rhinelander was third in the conference in block solos (32) and third in the conference in total blocks per set (1.70).
"Our block and our defense was exceptional again," Wolter said following an Oct. 12 match at Lakeland. "We had 20 touches on them on the block. We did a good job of making them hit around us. We had a lot of digs and everything off that block. That was important tonight and it really kept us in that third game."
Freshman Kelsi Beran added 20 blocks in league play while Allie Dornfeld had 18.
Statboook
Because Rhinelander had a better block, its digs per set shot up significantly this season, to 11.15 from 4.62.
The Hodags also had more of an attack. Junior Ava Lamers had 50 kills in conference play while Pauer had 22 and Beran had 21. As a team, the Hodags just missed the break even point in attacking percentage at minus-0.001 in league play - meaning the team had one more error than it had kill in the attack. As a team, the Hodags averaged 4.30 kills per set.
That was up from 3.29 kills per set and a minus-0.026 attacking percentage in 2020, and closer to the team's 2019 numbers, when it had 5.46 kills per set and a plus-0.037 attacking percentage.
Lamers proved to be a strong all-around player for Rhinelander. She was second on the team with 78 digs in conference play, one behind libero Reagan Hartman. Juniors Addi DeMeyer and Maddi Roeser handled the bulk of the setting duties with 59 and 42 assists, respectively.
What's next
The Hodags will graduate six seniors off the squad, including Pauer in the front and back row players Hartman and Carly Schmidt. Natalee Sundby, Brynn Brzycki and Rivers Eagleson round out the graduating class.
Rhinelander will return Lamers, Beran, Dornfeld and both setters as they look to improve in the GNC.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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