Hodag volleyball takes set from Tomahawk, splits Ashland matches

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team put itself in position in a number of close sets late last week, ultimately going 2-3 in the matches that it played.

The Hodags took a set from last year’s Great Northern Conference runner-up Tomahawk but fell in four sets Thursday in the conference opener in Tomahawk. That was followed six sets Saturday that went to extra points as the team split its matches in the Ashland Invite.

The results moved Rhinelander to 4-12 overall on the season as coach Jayme Wyss said she continues to see glimpses of the what her team can become given time.

“Honestly, we just continue to see these great moments of our potential but we just aren’t there consistently yet,” she said. “It’s still early season and a lot of work to do. But we’re in it to fight. Nothing to lose. Everything to prove.”

The Hodags came out of the gates slowly on Thursday, dropping the first set to the Hatchets 25-13. That sluggish start appeared to carry over to the second as Rhinelander spotted Tomahawk the first seven points. The Hodags were still down 13-7 when they went on a 6-1 run to get back within a point. Tomahawk inched away 22-19 before the Hodags made one final spirited surge. 

Macey Schmoeger got a tip kill and a side out for Rhinelander. Lexi Beran followed with a tip kill off a big dig in the back row by Reese Retallick that cut Tomahawk’s lead to 22-21. The Hatchets then committed three straight errors to give Rhinelander game point, up 24-22. Tomahawk got a kill but then put the potential set-extending point into the net as Rhinelander took the second 25-23.

“We definitely got big momentum in the second set,” Wyss said. “Our girls got so loud and hyped that Tomahawk shut down in response, had a lot of errors, etc.”

Rhinelander jumped ahead 7-2 in the third set and led 18-14 before the Hatchets finished the third on an 11-1 run to take the set 25-19 and seize back momentum. That carried to the fourth set which the Hatchets won, 25-15.

“We took the loud energy and went into the third set with it and had a strong start,” Wyss said. “Ran out of timeouts too early in the third and fourth sets and the girls needed to pull together themselves but would get stuck on serve receive or make an error or get burned by them.”

The Hodags had a balanced attack Thursday night with senior Callie Hoerchler scratched due to injury. Ava Rathbun, Macey Schmoeger, Kelsi Beran and Willa Bureta all had four kills for the Hodags.

“Macey ran as a middle so we could move Ava to the outside. Put Willa in for regular rotation. Surprisingly, those three were the only ones with positive hitting percentages so they really stepped up,” Wyss noted. 

Libbey Buchmann had three kills, seven assists and two service aces, Tori Stella had 15 digs and Schmoeger added a pair of blocks. 

The Hodags saw another GNC foe in Ashland on Saturday, falling in a nail-biter to start the day against Northland Pines 26-27, 27-25, 16-14. To expedite the tournament, sets had a hard cap of 27 points — even if there was only a one-point margin.

    Rhinelander’s Lucy Lindner sets to teammate Libbey Buchmann (22) during a non-conference volleyball match against Northland Pines in Ashland Saturday, Sept. 7. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Close sets were the name of the day for Rhinelander. The Hodags then edged out Ironwood, Mich. 26-24, 25-22 and nearly forced a third set against Wakefield-Marenisco, Mich. before running into the cap again and falling 25-19, 27-26. Rhinelander closed out the day with a tight three-set win over Jeffers, Mich. 19-25, 25-21, 16-14.

“Honestly, just a lot of good volleyball,” Wyss said of Saturday’s matches. “We played with a lot of positive energy. A lot of close sets and matches. If you look at how we played at SPASH to (the) Dells (tournament) to Tomahawk to today, there’s a lot of positive progression and the team I starting to come together. (We) struggle still on serve receive but we focused on playing smart and cleaning things up as the day went on. Constantly learning and trying to get smarter and stay aggressive. Even when we had losses, the sets were all intense and just fun volleyball.”

Buchmann had a team-high 34 kills on the day to go along with 25 assists, 39 digs and three service aces. Rathbun added 12 kills while Schmoeger had nine. Kelsi Beran had nine kills and five blocks, Lucy Lindner had 33 assists and seven aces, while Stella finished with 60 digs.

Rhinelander will play its first of only four home matches on the season tonight at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium as it takes on Antigo in GNC play. The Robins, who took second at the Friendship Tournament in Wisconsin Dells, come in off a tough five-set loss at Medford in which they relinquished a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wyss said the Hodags are eager to play at home this evening.

“I’m just really proud of these girls and the passion and excitement they bring to the court,” she said. “Changes are happening to Rhinelander volleyball and we are anxious to show everyone.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].