September 7, 2022 at 11:22 a.m.
Hodags swept by Lakeland in GNC volleyball play
Hodags swept by Lakeland in GNC volleyball play
Though the Hodags started a bit faster than in their three-set loss the previous Thursday at Antigo, Rhinelander struggled in serve-receive at times and was unable to recover from early deficits in both the second and third sets.
"We came out pretty slow in sets 2 and 3 and that really halted us from really being able to get back into those games and being competitive, giving up five and six to start right off the bat," Hodag coach Dan Wolter said. "It's always tough to come back from that."
Rhinelander and Lakeland played back and fourth in the first set, with a tip kill by Lily Treder tying things up at 14. Meg Pfannerstill took over from there, however. Lakeland's returning first-team All-GNC hitter recorded three of her match-high 13 kills in the next four points. Later, Brooklyn Pesava added back-to-back aces to put Lakeland up 20-16 and the T-Birds cruised to the first-set win.
"Pfannerstill has a great swing and we knew that coming in and knew she can hit a lot of shots," Wolter said. "We had to play tough against her. We were getting touches on her and getting some hands up, but we just not able to pop the ball back up on her. She is a tough player."
Rhinelander spotted Lakeland the first five points in the second set and trailed by as many as 17-10 before making a mini-run to get back to within two at 18-16. Lakeland rattled off the next seven points from there, however, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
"Set 2 we got better at passing and we were in system a little bit more. We were able to get a few more kills and stay in points a little bit longer," Wolter said. "We ran into a little serve-receive lull there and just kind of sent over too many free balls and gave them opportunities to get in system. They were able to hit some balls down the line three, four shots in a row that really gave them a lead and made it tough for us climb back in."
Rhinelander took an early 3-1 lead in the third set, but Lakeland scored the next six points and never trailed after that. The T-Birds led 19-6 at one point before cruising to a nine-point victory.
Despite the loss, Rhinelander's 47th consecutive in GNC play, Wolter credited his team's effort throughout the match.
"Even though they are struggling out there with serve-receive they really are competing and trying to fight, stay in points and climb back into games, not just rolling over and dying," he said. "I like seeing that. We're fighting and that's what I keep telling them every time, just go out and fight."
Ava Lamers led Rhinelander with six kills, Macey Schmoeger added three kills and Kelsi Beran had two. Though the Hodags' attack was limited at times, they still finished with a positive attacking percentage (.101) with 14 kills and seven errors in 69 total chances.
"When we were able to get swings, we are finding holes and keeping the ball alive and getting teams out of system," Wolter said. "We're close. We've just got to clean things up on serve-receive. Once we get that settled in and get in system even more, those kill are going to go up higher. That's really what we're looking for."
Maddi Roeser had eight assists for Rhinelander, Emma Chiamulera had nine digs and Schmoeger recorded the Hodags' lone solo block kill.
Callie Ullius had eight kills for Lakeland while Caitlin Johnson had six. Ullius also had four aces and 14 digs for the T-Birds while Pasava had 15 assists, 11 digs and four aces.
Lakeland recorded 11 service aces against the Hodags on Tuesday.
Rhinelander (6-6, 0-2 Great Northern) returns to action Saturday in an invitational at Dodgeland, a team the Hodags beat twice last month during the Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells.
"They are not in our pool to start the day. We get three new teams down there," Wolter said. "We got Lake Country Lutheran, who was a state runner-up last year. That will be a very tough match for us, I'm excited to see how we play. We were able to play tough against some pretty good teams down in the Dells and I want to see us play tough against them too."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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