Volleyball: Hodags 4th in Phillips Invite

For the most part, the Rhinelander High School volleyball team beat the teams it was supposed to and sparred with some stronger lower-division opponents Saturday in the Phillips Invite. 

The end result was a 2-3 record and a fourth-place finish on the day as Rhinelander fell to Prentice and Florence in the championship bracket after taking second place in its pool.

Rhinelander had its chances against some of the better teams in the field. The Hodags took host Phillips to extra points in both sets in pool play, only to fall short 27-25, 26-24. Rhinelander then pushed Prentice, a perennial contender in Division 5, to three sets before losing 25-11, 19-25, 15-12 in the semifinals. 

The Hodags swept Chequamegon (25-21, 27-25) and Bruce (25-17, 25-16) in pool play and lost to Florence (25-18, 25-18) in the third-place match. 

“I believe that we had a shot at winning it,” Hodag coach Jayme Wyss said afterward. “We were so tight with the top teams, we just couldn’t come away with a win. Except Florence, we should have done better there. That seems to be the theme of the season. It’s like we have all this progress but just can’t come away with a W in the end.”

The Hodags overcame a slow start, trailing 11-2 in the opening set to Chequamegon, before rallying to take control of that match. That was followed by a close two-set loss to the Loggers and a match against Bruce where Wyss said she extended her bench to get a number of reserve players some playing time. 

Overall, Wyss said Rhinelander struggled putting the ball away, as the team finished the day with a .065 attacking percentage — with 82 kills and 62 errors in 307 total chances. 

“Look at our attack errors alone, I think a lot of it comes down to just cleaning up our game,” she said.  “Defensively, I think our back row has come a long ways. When we really focused on getting big blocks on the biggest hitters against Prentice I feel like we also improved a lot. So defensive-wise, we are making huge strides. Offensively, we have a long way to go.”

Rhinelander had junior Libbey Buchmann back in the lineup in a limited capacity on Saturday after she missed the better part of the final two sets against Mosinee last Tuesday with a back issue. She sat during the matches against Chequamegon and Bruce but played in the other three, tallying 16 kills and 16 digs on the day. 

“Libbey felt confident about playing at minimum in the back row. I didn’t play her in either of the two matches that I felt confident about winning, but against the better teams, I felt like we needed her,” Wyss said. “She starts in the back, and when she rotated to the front, I kept checking in with her, and she said she felt fine. It was definitely a blessing to have her out there.”

Macey Schmoeger led the Hodags on Saturday with 20 kills — 14 of which came in the team’s first two matches. Kelsi Beran added 15 kills and two blocks. Lucy Lindner had 51 assists, 28 digs and chipped in 10 kills on the day. Tori Stella finished with 59 digs while Kayla Skubal had 26 digs. Cassidy Lindner chipped in 18 digs and a team-high 16 aces from the service line.

“Lucy had a lot of great hustle today and Tori has been fantastic in the back,” Wyss noted. “She is showing to be a great leader on the team. Macey is unstoppable against some teams. I’m hoping that by time we hit the end of the season, she consistently brings great things to every match.”

Rhinelander (10-21, 1-5 Great Northern) hits the road tonight against Northland Pines in search of a conference season sweep after beating the Eagles in four sets during the first leg of the GNC tourney Sept. 21 in Minocqua. 

The Hodags then return home Thursday to face Medford in the Pink Out game for Breast Cancer Awareness. In conjunction with the RHS HOSA club, the team will be holding raffles, contests and selling lotus energy drinks Thursday in support of Holly Klaas, a 2004 Hodag alum and school district employee who was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.

Proceeds raised through Thursday night’s activities will be donated to the Klaas family.

Wyss said it’s a subject near to her heart with family members who have been afflicted by various forms of cancer and said she’s hoping the match, right during the heart of homecoming week, will draw a strong crowd for a worthy cause.

“Pink Night has always been one of my favorite nights,” she said. “We do serving games to raise money and fans have a chance to win prizes. I think doing that between sets helps keep things in a fun, upbeat mood. I used to do it on the nights against our biggest conference rival. It’s nice we can keep the funds local and directly help someone in the Hodag family. It’s a great opportunity for the night to be bigger than just a game of volleyball. Hopefully we can give fans a great game as well.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].