September 2, 2022 at 10:56 a.m.
Antigo sweeps Hodags in GNC volleyball
Antigo sweeps Hodags in GNC volleyball
The Hodags got off to a slow start Thursday night and were swept by Antigo 25-7, 25-20, 25-18 at Sheldon Fieldhouse.
Rhinelander (6-5, 0-1 Great Northern), which was also swept by Antigo at the Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells Aug. 26, dropped its 46th straight match in conference play.
"We knew they were going to come out swimming and play a tough game," Hodag coach Dan Wolter said. "It was the opening conference match and, at home, they we ready to play. We just came out too slow and never really got into a groove to stay competitive enough to win a game."
After the Hodags scored the first two points of the opening set, it was all Antigo. The Red Robins scored 14 of the next 15 points to take control of the set.
Serve-receive, a bugaboo for the Hodags at times over the last few years, proved to be an issue again on Thursday. According to statistics kept by the team, Rhinelander had 12 ball-handling errors on Antigo serves during the course of the match.
"It was a very rough serve-receive game," Wolter said. "We were not able to get into system the first set."
Rhinelander spotted Antigo the first five points of the second set before rallying to tie it up a 9-9. The Hodags tied it up three more times, including at 19-all, but could never get the lead. A Morgan Boutelle service error sparked a closing 6-1 run for Antigo as it took the second set.
The Robins used 5-1 run to break a 4-4 tie in the third set and never trailed after that. The Hodags got back to within 17-14, but Antigo scored the next three points and was able to close out the match from there.
"The second one we played much better than the first, obviously," Wolter said. "Our defense stayed in points a lot and we were able to get into some longer volleys and just kind of hang tough with them. That definitely kept us in the game and kept us competitive in those last two sets."
Junior Lily Treder proved to be a bright spot for the Hodags on Thursday, recording five kills and no errors in 10 attacking attempts.
"She stepped up big tonight, played very well," Wolter said. "It was the first varsity start for her tonight and (she) went out and made plays when she had opportunities to do so. That really helped us out tonight."
Ava Lamers and Lucy Lindner each had two kills. Boutelle had four assists while Maddi Roeser chipped in three. Emma Chiamulera and Lamers each recorded nine digs while Macey Schmoeger had three total blocks.
The Hodags return to action tonight at Lakeland, which was swept by Medford in Thursday's conference opener.
"We know it's always tough playing up there," Wolter said. "They're going to have a big crowd and we're going to have to fight through it and come together as a team to play tough and win games. It's tough but we've got to get our serve-receive figured out before Tuesday when we go up there to play. If we don't have that, it's going to be another rough night, which I don't want to see."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.