Hodag volleyball pushes Tomahawk to four sets

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team keeps inching closer to becoming a contender again in the Great Northern Conference, but could not quite get over the hump on Tuesday night.

The Hodags bounced back after letting the first set slip away, but could not complete the rally, falling in four sets to Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Rhinelander couldn’t cash in on a 20-12 lead in the first set and eventually lost 27-25. The Hatchets rode that momentum to a 25-18 win in the second. The Hodags staved off elimination with a 25-23 win in the third, but a 7-1 run late in the fourth set proved too much to overcome as they fell 25-21.

“Overall, I’m very happy with the way we played. Just too many missed opportunities and runs we weren’t able to dig out of,” Hodag coach Dan Wolter said. “The girls see it too, I hope. Things are starting to come together. We’re starting to put up tough games in conference playing against tough opponents. Tomahawk right now is second in the conference. That’s a good team. For us to get a set on them and play them as tight as we did, things are coming along. We’ve just got to keep believing in ourselves and in the process.”

Tomahawk (15-16, 7-2 Great Northern) inched back after the Hodags built an eight point lead late in the first set, crawling with in three at 23-20. A service error by the Hatchets gave Rhinelander four chances at set point, but two tip kills by Tomahawk, a line violation on the Hodags and a block kill by Siennah Calkins tied the set at 24. The Hodags had another chance at set point after a Lexi Robinson kill, but a passing error tied it and the Hatchets came up with back to back aces to steal the set.

“It was just sloppy serve-receive,” Wolter said. “We’ve been working at it. When we’re passing the ball well we’re a good team and we’re playing well. We just have to continue to do it and continue to focus on it. We did a good job of it tonight, just had too many runs we gave up off it.”

Tomahawk led wire-to-wire in the second, jumping out to an 8-1 advantage. The Hodags pulled within 20-15 at their closest, but the Hatchets cruised to take a two-set lead.

The Hodags led much of the way in the third, up 17-12 at one point before Tomahawk used a 6-1 run to tie it at 18. The set was tied again at 21 and 23 but the Hodags never relinquished the lead. Back-to-back kills by Kelsi Beran closed it out and extended the match.

“We really dug the ball well and had a good block,” Wolter said. “In that third set we came out with 10 kills. We were definitely passing the ball and playing good defense. That’s what it’s going to take on a consistent basis.”

Rhinelander took a 16-14 lead after back-to-back Tomahawk attacking errors in the fourth set, but the Hatchets scored seven of the next eight points to go ahead 21-17. Rhinelander got within 23-21 on a kill by Lily Treder. Tomahawk’s Emerson Lange was credited with a kill to the back line on the next point and Tomahawk then served out for the match.

Treder and Beran had nine kills each to lead Rhinelander while Beran added four total blocks and three aces. Lucy Lindner had 21 assists.

    Rhinelander libero Tori Stella bumps the ball over the net during a GNC volleyball match against Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Oct. 3. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander was without senior libero Emma Chiamulera on Tuesday, but had multiple players step in to pick up the coverage in the back row. Libbey Buchmann finished with a team-high 25 digs, Lindner had 20 and sophomore Tori Stella, who stepped into the libero roll in Chiamulera’s absence, had 19.

“We did a great job on the defense picking up the pieces and picking up digs,” Wolter said. “We kept a lot of points alive. A lot of them were off our block too. The block did a nice job of slowing it up. I thought our tip coverage was really well done tonight as well. We were picking up a lot of that stuff.”

Rhinelander (13-18, 1-7 Great Northern) returns to action tomorrow in the second Great Northern Conference meet of the season at Tomahawk. The Hodags will play Lakeland, Mosinee and Northland Pines.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].