RHS volleyball downs Pines again

EAGLE RIVER — The Rhinelander High School volleyball team hit another milestone Tuesday night as it tries to rebuild following several down seasons. For the first time since 2017, the Hodags have recorded multiple wins in Great Northern Conference play.

Win No. 2 came against the same team as win No. 1. The Hodags brushed off a shaky third set Tuesday to take care of Northland Pines in four, defeating the Eagles 25-20, 25-22, 10-15, 25-15. 

That matched the result the Hodags posted 10 days earlier at the conference tournament when they defeated the Eagles in four sets in Minocqua. Rhinelander moved to 2-1 overall this year against the Eagles, who edged the Hodags in a pair of tight sets in non-conference play Sept. 7 at the Ashland Invite. 

“That’s just exciting. We knew that we could do it and I just feel like it’s nice to be able to come in knowing you can do it and actually execute,” Hodag volleyball coach Jayme Wyss said afterward. 

It took at bit a resolve for the Hodags after seemingly nothing went right in the third set. The Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead and the Hodags didn’t record a kill until a Callie Hoerchler put away down 18-6. 

Rhinelander fell behind 10-7 in the fourth set, but outscored the Eagles 18-5 the rest of the way to secure the win. 

“I don’t know what happened the third set exactly, but we got in such a slump that, at one point, (it was like) let’s just lose this set, get it over with because we need a new start,” Wyss said. “For the girls to be able to come from that, and not let it shake them, we got that momentum and watched Pines shut down and have error after error. 

“I just feel like they responded well to be able to come back from something that was very, very ugly.”

Hoerchler had a kill followed by a strong run at the service line by libero Tori Stella to put the Hodags ahead in the fourth. A pair of Pines attacking errors tied the set at 10, Stella gave the Hodags the lead with an ace to make it 11-10. She nearly had another on the next point that set up a Kelsi Beran kill and then aced the Eagles again to put Rhinelander up 13-10. Lucy Lindner added an ace later in the set to go up 17-11 and the Hodags pulled away down the stretch. As a team, Rhinelander finished with 10 aces on the evening.

“We had great aces. We just needed that momentum where it was like, ‘Let’s just get a big lead and finish this out,’” Wyss said. 

    Rhinelander’s Cassidy Lindner records a dig during the fourth set of a GNC volleyball match against Northland Pines High School in Eagle River Tuesday, Oct. 1. Lindner had 11 digs on the night as well as three service aces as the Hodags defeated the Eagles in four sets. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Kelsi Beran paced the Hodags with nine kills on the evening and had a big impact down the stretch in the first as the Hodags rallied from down 13-8 at one point to win the set. She had back-to-back kills to tie the set at 19 and another to tie it again at 20. She added a block kill at the net to put Rhinelander up 23-20 as part of a 6-0 run to finish the set — which ended on back-to-back aces from Cassidy Lindner. 

Beran finished the night at .152 on the attack, with just four errors over a team-high 33 attacks. Wyss credited some extra work at practice Monday for Beran’s big night in the front row.

“Kelsi and I worked 1-on-1 yesterday,” she said. “We were talking about how to stay behind the ball so we’re not hitting out, how we work around the blockers and, my gosh, you could instantly see the results of an intentional practice and just being deliberate with the contact you have on ball and being able to find the holes.”

Rhinelander led most of the way in the second set, only to see Pines go on a 6-0 run to take a 16-15 advantage. The lead traded hands a few more times, but Rhinelander tied it at 19 on a tip kill by Macey Schmoeger and took the lead for good on an attacking error by Pines’ Kami Neff. The Eagles crept back within 23-22 on a Neff ace, but back-to-back kills by Schmoeger and Hoerchler gave the Hodags a 2-0 lead in the match. 

It was a part of a night where the Hodags spread the ball around with top attacker Libbey Buchmann still working through back issues. She was held to six kills with six errors in 32 attacks on Tuesday after racking up 17 kills against the Eagles in the Sept. 21 conference match. Schmoeger, Hoerchler and Lucy Lindner each finished with four kills on the night.

“You have to have other girls step up if your big hitter isn’t there,” Wyss said. “That was definitely a team effort moving the ball around … It felt like a team effort. Everyone stepped up to play their role.”

Lucy Lindner finished the night with 24 assists and had three service aces. Rhinelander had plenty of contributions in the back row. Stella led the way with 14 digs, Cassidy Lindner had 11, Lucy Lindner had 10 and Buchmann added nine. 

“Our back row has come so far,” Wyss noted. “Lucy hustles her butt off. She’s been working on clean hands. She only got called once tonight (for a double hit) and it was a fair call.”

Kelsi Beran and Schmoeger had two blocks each while Cassidy Lindner added three service aces. 

The Hodags were home Thursday night to face Medford in a match that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander is now idle until a week from Saturday when it will face Antigo, Lakeland and Mosinee in the final leg of the GNC tournament in Medford.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].