November 16, 2022 at 9:13 a.m.
Team review: RHS volleyball
Hodags slowly start to rebuild in 2022
Team review: RHS volleyball
Rhinelander did not win a match in the GNC - the fifth consecutive year that the team has gone winless in league play - but the team's nine wins overall were three more than it had the previous four seasons combined.
Continuity certainly played a role under second-year head coach Dan Wolter. The team had its first full summer program of open gyms, contact days and league nights since 2019. Wolter said the work put in during the offseason, particularly by this year's group of seniors, led to more success this season.
"Last year was pretty rough and you guys started turning it around," he told the team earlier this month during its season-ending banquet. "It started back just when the majority of you started coming to weight room, coming to open gyms, playing league, putting in that time. You worked really hard to build."
The end result was a 9-27 record, with six of those wins coming in the first week of the season. Though the Hodags went 0-12 in the GNC, they won their first sets in league play since 2019.
"We played well. I don't think our record exactly reflected the way we finished," Wolter said. "That's a lot of compliments to you and how hard you worked. I appreciated it a lot as a coach knowing you were there, worked hard every day and the amount of time and effort you put in all the way through."
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Early victories
The Hodags started the 2022 season on the right foot as they sat 6-4 following their first week of play. It started with an undefeated record in the team's season-opening home quadrangular.
The Hodags swept Elcho, rallied to win a tight three-set match against Hurley and closed out the day with a sweep of Chequamegon. It marked the first time that Rhinelander won three straight matches since 2017.
"It's a great start and the girls played hard," Wolter said. "Coming in and going 3-0 in your own quad, that's always refreshing and a great way to build some confidence inside the girls."
Rhinelander picked up three more wins in an invite down in Wisconsin Dells, defeating Dodgeland twice before Oshkosh North in the fifth-place game of the Bronze bracket.
The Hodags picked up their final three wins of the season at an invite Sept. 24 in Phillips.
GNC competitiveness
Rhinelander closed the conference slate by taking a set in two of their final three matches of the season. The Hodags rallied from down 24-19 to win the opening set from Northland Pines 26-24 during the second GNC tournament, held in Rhinelander Oct. 8. Then, three days later on senior night, the team staved off elimination for a set, erasing an early 13-8 deficit in the third set to beat Antigo 25-21.
The set victories were the first for Rhinelander in GNC play since taking a set from Tomahawk in a 3-1 loss in the final conference game of the 2019 season.
"It was great, getting out there and getting the seniors the recognition they deserve with a great crowd," Wolter. "To be able to pick up a set, who we struggled with twice so far this year, we really played tough. It was fantastic."
Overall, the Hodags were more competitive, averaging 16.2 points per set in GNC play this season, up from 14.1 points per set last year.
Feeling positive
Part of the reason Rhinelander was more successful this year was the fact that it finished on the plus side in attacking percentage - meaning it had more kills than errors - for the first time since 2019.
Rhinelander was .048 on the attack this year in GNC play, its bester percentage in the conference since 2017, when it hit at a .116 clip.
"We ran a lot more offense than we have in the past. That's a good sign," Wolter said.
Statbook
A good chunk of Rhinelander's success on the attack could be traced back to senior hitter Ava Lamers. She had a plus-.155 attacking percentage in the conference while leading the Hodags in total attacks (304) by a large margin. She had more than double the number of attacks than the person second in that category, sophomore Kelsi Beran.
Lamers had 148 kills overall on the season as she received honorable mention in the GNC.
"Ava had a pretty good year," Wolter said. Her numbers, the way she plays and just being a six-rotation player for us really stood out to a lot of the coaches in the conference."
The Hodags' other all-conference recipient was sophomore libero Emma Chiamulera. She was fifth in the conference in digs per set (3.3) and had a team-high 298 digs overall on the season.
"Emma always was kind of our safety net there in the back row, keeping us in points and popping the ball back up," Wolter said.
Lamers also led the team in blocks this year (56) while Maddi Roeser paced the team in assists with 298.
What's next
Rhinelander loses five seniors from this year's squad. Lamers' will be missed not only for her offensive numbers but her all-around play, as she was second on the team in digs. In Roeser and fellow senior Morgan Boutelle, the team will graduate its two top setters from this season and the team also loses a blocking presence up front in senior Allie Dornfeld.
The fifth senior on the squad, Addi DeMeyer, was unable to play this season as she rehabilitated from ankle surgery over the summer.
The Hodags will have experience in the back row with Chiamulera and freshman defensive specialist Tori Stella returning. Up front, the team will bring back four players - Beran, Lily Treder, Macey Schmoeger and Lexi Robinson, who had double-digit kills in league play. Ava Krouze saw some time at setter this fall, behind Roeser and Boutelle.
In all, Rhinelander will return nine players who appeared in multiple conference matches this season and will also look to bring up some players who were competitive at the junior varsity level this fall.
"For you that are able to come back, I hope we can continue this," Wolter said. "The same with those of you that are at the JV level. Hopefully you can see the work they put in this summer. I know some of you were there too, which is great. It's something we can continue building on. It's got to start somewhere and I think it started building back this year."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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