The state’s third-ranked Hatchet volleyball team took its third trip to the state tournament in four years and matched its 2011 performance by collecting the silver ball as the second-best team in the state in D2.
Tomahawk knocked off Waupun in four sets in Friday’s semi-finals, but lost a 25-11, 25-20, 25-20 match to Catholic Memorial for the state championship.
“The girls were a little upset with how they played, but we told them they have so much to be proud of,” THS coach Amanda Kriese said. “We had an amazing season and accomplished something that most high school athletes never get to experience.
“The girls came out slow again in Game One and couldn’t get any momentum going to catch up to the lead they built. Catholic Memorial had a great team with lots of very athletic girls. They played great defense against us with digging and blocking. We had too many errors in that first set.
“We got rolling a little bit in the second set and had the lead for a bit as well, but we couldn’t sustain it as we had a hard time handling the ball/serve and before we knew it, the set was over. The third game was up and down and in the end we couldn’t pull it off.”
The match capped off a 34-4 run for THS in 2014.
“We would like to thank the community, our families, and fans for all the support over the season,” Kriese said. “It was so incredible coming into town on Saturday night being welcomed in by everyone. It was an unforgettable season.”
Provisions were given by: Nyberg (16 kills, 2 blocks, 9 digs); Becca Doughty (2 k, 18 assists); Hanna Meyer (6 k, 5 d); Hannah Feest (12 d); Emily Schneider (2 k, 2 aces, 2 bl).
Whompin’ Waupun
The Hatchets jumped to a 2-0 lead with a pair of 25-20 sets, then rebounded from a 25-14 loss with a 25-20 closer.
“I thought we played well throughout the match,” Kriese said. “Everyone contributed a little bit and it was nice to see a balanced attack, which forced Waupun to stay alert.
“I thought the girls came out focused and played well in the first two sets. We went point-for-point with them and were down 8-10 when we went on a little run where we had a four-point lead at 17-13. We traded points and went on another run and we had game point at 24-17 and Waupun fought back to 20 when a Hanna Meyer kill closed out the set.
“We really started to find our groove in Set Two, leading by as much as six points. Waupun is a great team and went on a little run to tie the game at 16-16 and then we got some more momentum and chipped away points until a hitting error ended the second set.
“The third set was a bit of a mental breakdown for us. We were down 3-12 and it was hard to come back after being down by so much. We had too many errors and Waupun forced another set with us.
“The fourth set was a lot of back and forth again until we went on a five-point run to put us up 19-14. Waupun wasn’t going to let us take the match and fought back to within two points at 21-19 when we had a couple key blocks from Emily Schneider and Anna Nyberg.
“The match ended on an Anna kill and the girls flooded the court. We were so excited to be one step closer to our goal and we were going to compete in championship Saturday. It was amazing to have the support of our fans and community members, which was so evident later that evening when we all were receiving calls, texts, and messages stating how proud of us people were.”
Contributions came from: Meyer (18 k, 2 ac, 2 bl, 12 d); Nyberg (15 k, 2 ac, 2 bl, 12 d); Doughty (3 bl, 39 as, 6 d); Schneider (6 k, 6 bl, 3 d); Feest (2 ac, 10 d); Colynn Behling (3 k, 2 bl); Megan Lee (3 k, 2 bl); Lexi Graeber (8 d).