Hodag volleyball wins five matches, takes 13th in Dells

After one week of competition, the Rhinelander High School volleyball team has already nearly equaled its win total from 2022 and is building confidence as it looks to snap a five-year conference winless streak. 

The Hodags went 5-2 over the weekend and took 13th in the 18-team Friendship Tournament at JustAGame Fieldhouse. After splitting its first four matches on Friday, the Hodags were placed in the Bronze bracket for Saturday’s play. Rhinelander won all three matches Saturday, including a straight set win over Clintonville in the 13th-place match, to leave the Dells with some hardware.

The Hodags concluded the opening week with a 7-3 record after going 9-27 last season.

“It’s exciting. We’ve got a few wins and hopefully some confidence going into that game on Thursday at home (against Antigo),” Hodag coach Dan Wolter said. 

Rhinelander started play on Friday by winning its initial three-team pool. The Hodags dominated their opening match against Bruce, winning 25-4, 25-7, before rallying to a three-set win over Oshkosh North 18-25, 25-21, 15-7.

“I’m very happy with the way we started, going out and getting business taken care of against Bruce and then against Oshkosh North,” Wolter said. “Winning that first pool of the tournament is always a good feeling. The girls played really well.”

The wins put Rhinelander in a snake pool with Wisconsin Dells and Sheboygan North Friday afternoon for seeding in Saturday’s placement rounds. The Hodags lost to eventual gold bracket semifinalist Wisconsin Dells 25-18, 25-11 before forcing a three-set match against Sheboygan North, falling 25-21, 25-27, 15-9.

“We played tough teams in Sheboygan North and Wisconsin Dells,” Wolter said. “Both teams ended up getting into that gold bracket. So to be able to scoop a set win on Sheboygan North and play tough both games against them and (against) the Dells was very pleasing. Those aren’t bad losses. Those are two good teams and we fought against them and played really tough.”

Rhinelander drew a rematch with Oshkosh North Saturday morning, and the match played out almost identical to the first meeting, with the Hodags rallying to take a 20-25, 25-18, 15-11 victory. From there, the Hodags swept Rio in straight sets 25-16, 25-14 to earn a spot in the 13th-pace match. 

“We knew (Oshkosh North) was going to give us the best they had because we had already beat them once in the tournament and we were able to overcome a first set loss and then come back and get two on them,” Wolter said. “We kind of got into the flow of things. Our passing came around and we were able to really scrap and put together two really good games against them. 

“Against Rio our serving was tough. We served really well, went on a couple really big runs to get things started and give ourselves a little bit of distance and put them away. It was good to get a two-setter like that and not have to go three.”

The Hodags closed things off with a 25-19, 25-17 win over Clintonville.

“Clintonville, we were able to keep them out of system,” Wolter said. “They had a couple of really good swings on the outside but our serving was tough and kept them out of system. That put us in a good situation being able to swing back at them. The girls did a really good job picking up tips and just playing tough against them.”

Rhinelander once again spread out the attack as five different players finished the tournament with at least 10 kills. Junior Kelsi Beran led the way with 21 kills, senior Lily Treder had 16 kills and added 16 blocks, Libbey Buchmann had 14 kills, Lexi Robinson had 12 and Callie Hoerchler chipped in 11. 

Junior Lucy Lindner again handled the bulk of the setting duties for Rhinelander and finished with 78 assists. 

“Lucy did a great job spreading the ball around and getting the defense moving,” Wolter said. “That helps. Instead of running through just one single locations, we’re starting to hit all three locations. That’s important.”

Emma Chiamulera and Tori Stella finished the weekend with 15 digs each, while Beran chipped in 10 digs. Buchmann had 14 aces on the weekend — including nine during the first Oshkosh North match — while Chiamulera chipped in nine aces. 

Rhinelander hosts Antigo on Thursday in the Hodags’ first chance this year to end what currently sits as a 57-match conference losing streak. The Robins were also in Wisconsin Dells and finished 10th in the tournament, losing to Fall River in the championship game of the Silver Bracket.

“They’re a good team,” Wolter said. “They always come out and play tough. They’re a good ball control team. We’re just going to have to find a way to get them out of system and get swings on them and be big on our block.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].