The Tomahawk girls had hoped to take their talented team deep in the post-season, but losing in the sectional semi-final round – while commendable for many squads – didn’t quite cut it for the Hatchets.
Altoona pulled out a five-set victory in Antigo on Thursday with a 15-11 finale to halt the THS season at a stellar 38-4.
“We tried to chip away points and got on a small run (in Game 4), but it wasn’t enough and Altoona forced us into the 5th game,” THS coach Amanda Charles said. “We started off trading points back and forth. We were able to build a two-point lead, but untimely service errors caused us to have to serve receive to earn points. We ended up missing four serves that game and in a quick game to 15 that’s too many to miss.
“We just didn’t get our offense going like we usually do and Altoona forced us to send them free balls. For most of the season, we did that to other teams. It was such a heartbreaking loss because of all the goals the girls wanted to accomplish, like a repeat trip down to Green Bay for the state tournament.”
Altoona is state-bound after knocking off Osceola in five sets on Saturday with a 15-10 closer.
The Hatchets worked a big lead to open up the first game before dropping it 25-23, but rallied with 25-20 and 25-23 wins to take a 2-1 match lead.
“Our first game we came out ready to play and battled to earn the first few points until we were able to go on a run,” Charles said. “We were up 23-17, then the Railroaders made a comeback. We got stuck in a rotation that we only have two front-row hitters and we had a hard time controlling our serve receive. We weren’t able to recover and Altoona took that set away from us.
“In the second set we battled back from an early deficit to win it. We took that momentum into the third set and won that set as well. Up 2-1 we had our chance to close it out, but I said we need to get out to a quick start. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. We were down right away 0-7 and it is really hard to come back from that.”
Altoona proved Charles right with a 25-17 victory that forced the short fifth set.
Production was turned in by: Becca Doughty (52 assists, 4 blocks, 21 digs); Anna Nyberg (24 kills, 20 d); Alex DuPlayee (10 k, 20 d); Hanna Meyer (9 k, 4 bl, 9 d); Hanna Doughty (11 k, 3 bl); Amanda Schneider (13 d); Emily Schneider (5 ac, 4 bl, 3 d); and Maddie Garrison (9 d).
The squad can still look back fondly at its undefeated GNC season and several fine performances in tournament play.
“It has been such a pleasure coaching this team,” Charles said. “They have so much that they accomplished this season to be proud of. They were conference champions and made history going a perfect 36-0 in sets played. They finished strong in some really competitive tournaments: 3rd at UWW, 5th at UW-Oshkosh, 2nd at D.C. Everest, 1st in the Hatchet Invite.
“I can’t say enough about the seniors and how they lead this team and pushed the others to be their best. They were great role models for the volleyball program and all-around good kids. We will miss them next season and the underclassmen have some big shoes to fill as we lose Alex DuPlayee (2nd Team All-GNC outside hitter, Captain), Hanna Doughty (2nd Team All-GNC middle blocker), Amanda Schneider (HM All-GNC libero), Maddie Garrison (captain and defensive specialist) and Kelly Schlinsog (defensive specialist). We as a volleyball family wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
“It is my hope that we have some kids willing to work hard in the off season to step up and fill those voids that we will have.”
The squad will return GNC POY Anna Nyberg, a junior, First Team setter Becca Doughty and Second Team Hanna Meyer and HM Emily Schneider. Schneider is a junior, while Doughty and Meyer are sophomores.