Crickets too much; Pirates 2-2 in invite

GILMAN VOLLEYBALL

MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

An aggressive team from Fall Creek hit Gilman hard early in Tuesday’s third-place match in the Cloverbelt Conference Crossovers and, though the Pirates were much better in the second half of the match, the Crickets were too tough to overcome in a 3-0 sweep.

Caroline Grossinger, a 5-11 senior middle, had four kills and a couple blocks and, from the outside, junior Anna Dougherty and junior Gracie Marten led the way with nine and eight kills respectively as the Crickets improved to 29-13 in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Gilman stumbled badly out of the gate, dropping game one 25-6. But the Pirates regrouped and adjusted and made some runs at Fall Creek after that. The Pirates tore out to an 8-3 lead in game two, but another tough stretch suddenly put them in a 17-9 hole that was too much to overcome, though Allison Olynick had a kill, Jaylyn Orth put down a block and Danielle Mann had a kill before Fall Creek closed out a 25-18 win.

The Pirates had a 7-5 lead in game three following a Mann kill, an 8-7 lead after a Mann block and a 9-8 lead after Abby Chaplinski’s bump found a hole in Fall Creek’s defense. Fall Creek pushed ahead, Gilman stuck close for a bit with kills from Orth and Bryn Hendricks, but the Crickets stretched the lead to five at 18-13. Gilman got within 19-17 on a back-row attack from Mann and 20-18 on a Hendricks kill but Fall Creek held off the Pirates from there and closed out the match at 25-20.

The Crickets’ offensive attack kept Gilman’s defense busy. Libero Kayleigh James led the Pirates with 21 digs, Chaplinski had 11 and Mann and Claire Drier added 10 each. Orth had two block kills. Kill numbers were low with Mann registering a team-high four. Drier, Orth and Hendricks had three each. Chaplinski had 12 assists to go with two kills.

The Pirates wrapped up the regular season at 15-11, which was good enough to draw the second seed and a first-round bye in their half of the WIAA Division 4 sectional. Gilman won’t begin tournament play until the regional semifinal round on Oct. 19 when it will host either 10th-seeded Clayton or seventh-seeded New Auburn at 7 p.m.

Clayton eliminated Gilman in last year’s regional semifinal in four sets. The Pirates last saw New Auburn in 2020, winning the tournament opener in a sweep.

With a win, Gilman would host the regional final on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

The Prentice Buccaneers are the top seed in the halfbracket. The Pirates and Buccaneers met twice in the regular season with Gilman winning 2-1 in the Aug. 26 Prentice Invitational and Prentice sweeping the Pirates 3-0 in a non-conference dual Sept. 14.

Gilman Invitational

Gilman placed fourth in its own eight-team invitational Saturday, going 2-2 for the day.

The Pirates went 2-1 in pool play to earn a spot in the third-place match, which it dropped 2-0 to Wabeno-Laona by scores of 25-21, 25-12.

In pool play, Gilman swept Cornell 25-13, 26-24 to start the tournament. Defending tournament champion Webster, who won it again this year, got a three-set challenge from the Pirates but held them off 25-14, 18-25, 1511. Gilman also went to three sets in its final pool match, winning it over Alma Center Lincoln 23-25, 25-14, 15-9.

On the offensive side of things, Mann led Gilman with 30 kills in the tournament, Drier had 17, Chaplinski had 11 and Orth had a solid day with nine. Chaplinski had 64 assists and led the Pirates with seven aces. James had four, Mann and Drier had three each and Kenlyn Kroeplin had two.

Orth was a presence at the net defensively, piling up nine block kills. Mann had five, Drier had three and Hendricks added two. Chaplinski and James had 35 and 34 digs, respectively. Mann had 29, Kroeplin had 13 and Hendricks had 10.

Webster beat Cornell and Lincoln 2-0 in pool play and the finished off the tournament with a 2-0 sweep of Phillips, who went 3-0 in the other pool.

Columbus 3, Gilman 0

The Pirates had some stretches of excellent saving and digging Thursday, but Columbus Catholic’s relentless offensive attack was just too much to handle in a 3-0 sweep that clinched yet another outright Eastern Cloverbelt Conference championship for the Lady Dons.

The title is the seventh straight for Columbus, with six of them being outright. The exception is a 2019 shared title with Gilman.

Gilman finished 4-3 in league play, good for third place behind Colby (6-1). There was a three-way for fourth at 3-4 between Loyal, Neillsville and Spencer.

Gilman gave the Dons a good run in the first set. A Kroeplin ace made it 12-10, then the Pirates shrunk a five-point deficit to 21-20 with James getting an ace and Bryn Hendricks getting a kill along with help from some Columbus miscues. It was 23-22 when the Dons got the last two points, with the final one coming on a Courtney Sommer kill, to win it 25-22.

Game two was close for awhile. Drier had a kill and an ace and Mann hit a winner off a Dons’ blocker for a quick 4-2 Gilman lead. Later, Jaylen Copenhaver served an ace and Drier pounded a big kill to keep the Pirates within 12-10. But that was where Columbus began to pull away and Gilman never regained any momentum the rest of the way.

Sommer had a rightside kill and an ace, then the Dons’ 6-foot standout middle Aaliyah Krenn buried four kills to help her team secure a 25-13 win.

Gilman fell behind 6-1 in game three, then went on a little three-point run. Drier got a deflection off a block, Chaplinski’s roll found a hole and Hendricks tooled a block. Drier’s bump dropped for a point to make it 7-5, then the set just got away from Gilman. An 18-3 run for Columbus ended it at 25-8.

Drier was the kill leader with five. Orth and Hendricks had three each. Chaplinski had 12 assists and two aces. James had eight digs, while Chaplinski and Drier had seven each.