Hodag volleyball goes 1-3 in Wyss’s debut

Jayme Wyss scored a victory in her first match as Rhinelander High School volleyball head coach on Tuesday. The Hodags opened with a straight-set win over Berlin before dropping their final three matches of the day to finish sixth in the nine-team SPASH Invite at Stevens Point.

The Hodags fell to Stevens Point to finish 1-1 in pool play, which put them in the second-tier silver bracket for crossover matches. Rhinelander fell in straight sets to Green Bay NEW Lutheran and Wittenberg-Birnamwood in what Wyss described as a “huge learning opportunity” for her squad.

“Our back row is very young but improving,” she said. “Our hitters are really inconsistent. Once we start cleaning things up we will take things to the next level. They’re also learning to stay positive and how energy affects the team.”

The Hodags defeated Berlin in straight sets 25-22, 25-22. Rhinelander fell behind 8-1 in the second set before responding with a 17-3 run to go ahead 18-11 and seize control. Wyss called the comeback a “good test of mental toughness.” 

That was followed by a 25-11, 25-11 lost to Stevens Point. 

“We could volley with them. But when you have 10 hitting errors that’s a lot of points to just give away,” Wyss noted regarding the SPASH match. 

In crossover play, the Hodags fell to NEW Lutheran 25-17, 25-8 and to Wittenberg-Birnamwood 25-15, 25-23. Ultimately, Wyss said the team gave away too many points in the afternoon session to come away with any wins.

“NEW Lutheran we could hang with first set but absolutely fell apart second set. Sixteen points to them from hitting errors and missed serves,” she said. “Wittenberg we gave 21 points and yet still hung in there. Second set we overcame a huge deficit and lost that one 23-25.”

Libbey Buchmann led the Hodags with 13 kills. She added 13 digs and eight assists on the day. Senior Lucy Lindner had a big day on the stat sheet, leading the team in assists (17), digs (17) and service aces (4). Kelsi Beran chipped in five kills, three blocks and three aces for the Hodags. 

The Hodags were down two of their returning players with libero Tori Stella scratched due to injury and Callie Hoerchler gone due to an educational commitment. That forced the Hodags to employ a very young rotation at times, with Wyss noting the team had up to five sophomores on the floor at once during points of the day. 

“It was really rough for a while but rallying back and starting to click showed that we belong at big tournaments like this,” she said. “Definitely lacked the experience of the stronger teams but there’s a lot of potential. Growing pains are expected.”

Among the notable newcomers to varsity, sophomore Cassidy Lindner finished with 15 digs, junior Kayla Skubal had 13 digs and sophomore Ava Rathbun had four kills.

“I was impressed with Cassidy filling in as libero and Kayla with serves and in the back,” Wyss said. “They both got picked on by a server and had to recover from that. Ava also did all right filling in for Callie as (outside hitter). Just lacking a lot of experience.”

The Hodags return to action today and tomorrow in the 24-team Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells. Rhinelander will see Lake Mills, Cashton and Rio in pool play today and then play a crossover match to determine where it will be seeded for bracket rounds on Saturday.

“Honestly, I don’t know much about the teams we are playing in the Dells, so I am looking at it as a great opportunity for learning and growth,” Wyss said. “The biggest thing is preparing ourselves for conference matches.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].