Chemistry built in summer gives Gilman confidence going into fall

GILMAN VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW

Ava Gunderson and Tatum Weir put up a double block to deny teammate Emma Grunseth during Gilman’s volleyball practice Aug. 18. The Pirates open their season today, Thursday, with a triangular against rivals Owen-Withee and Thorp.

The Gilman Pirates open the 2021 volleyball season with a couple more openings than expected at the varsity level, but they return enough experience combined with some rising young talent to believe they can be Eastern Cloverbelt Conference contenders.

A core group of seven upperclassmen –– four seniors and three juniors –– heads the list of familiar names who survived the abnormal fall of 2020 and are enjoying the return to normalcy that’s been present so far in 2021.

Some spots are still to be determined, but there certainly are enough candidates as head coach Janice Komanec and assistant Stephanie Clabots had nearly 30 girls in the gym during last week’s opening week of practice.

“They are all working hard,” Komanec said. “They are all listening to what we need from them and they’re all trying to apply it. It’s also a very fun group. It’s a group that genuinely gets along. You put these girls in a van together and they just genuinely have a good time. It is a very nice group. They are very supportive of each other. They enjoy being together.”

Unlike last summer and fall, the Pirates had the opportunity to spend a lot of time preparing this season, most notably in a Thursday night summer league in Altoona. Gilman held its own in that league, building confidence heading into its season opening triangular tonight, Thursday, with host Thorp and Owen-Withee. The Pirates will get a longer look at what they have in Saturday’s six-team Prentice Invitational before they visit Athens for a challenging non-conference match on Tuesday.

“I think it was just good to get us all together, so we can play better together knowing what each other’s strengths are,” senior Kya Dietzler said of the summer work.

“It was great for seeing our options and who we’re going to use and just be able to rep,” Komanec said. “It was fantastic. But also just being together and spending time together was really good and just be a little normal for awhile. It was a ton of fun.”

The four seniors –– Dietzler, Emma Grunseth, Ava Gunderson and Hannah Vick –– said they are grateful there is an opportunity for a more normal season after last fall’s shortened campaign where the Pirates were 4-2 in league play and 5-6 overall in just 11 matches played.

“It was empty,” was how Grunseth described 2020. “It didn’t feel like a game. It felt like just a scrimmage with no one there.”

“Maybe we’ll have some people in the stands this year,” Dietzler said. “There was barely any cheering with no people here so it just felt different.”

“It felt like it wasn’t even a real season,” Vick said.

The off-season and first official practices will require some on-court chemistry building as a few players who would have been seniors on this year’s team chose not to return. The one that will gain the most interest around the conference is 2020 first-team All-ECC performer Aubrey Syryczuk.

But Komanec is excited about the growth of the older players and some youngsters who are aiming to step into varsity roles, particularly freshman Abby Chaplinski, who quickly established herself as the team’s setter. All the Pirates need, Komanec said, is the right attitude.

“We have a team quote we’re going with this year of ‘be bold, be confident, be relentless,’” Komanec said. “We talked about how this team needs to become more bold and more confident in everything they do. Not just playing, but also the way they warm up, the way they practice, everything. We hope that they carry a confidence that they haven’t quite found. We’ve had team meetings to talk about goals and make sure we are not setting ourselves too low. We are setting our goals high and expecting to go after those goals.”

The seniors said winning the conference championship and an in-season tournament or two certainly are on the list for team goals.

Grunseth, an honorable mention choice last fall in the conference, and junior Tatum Weir will return as the anchors in the middle of Gilman’s front row and are expecting to be threats both from a blocking standpoint and on offensive attacks. Second-team All-ECC choice Gracie Tallier returns as a top offensive threat. She ranked second on the team last year in kills and also recorded over 100 digs in her all-around role. Gunderson is also going to see time on the left side, while Vick will play on the right side, giving opponents a different look with her left-handed swing.

Junior Ellie Drier leads the defense in the back row as the team’s libero and Dietzler is getting a look at a back right spot.

The seniors view serving and hitting as the team’s strengths.

“We have girls that have been around long enough that have repped enough that they should start to be a factor for us,” Komanec said. “All of them have improved. We’re thinking that Kya might be more of a defensive player for us, which seems crazy because she is the second-tallest player on the team. She hasn’t quite found her swing yet, but she’s got a great serve so we’ve been working with her on some of the back right since we’re going to be running a 5-1. Abby is going to be running that offense for us.

“Hannah’s swing has gotten quicker. She’s definitely building confidence,” Komanec added. “Tatum and Emma are going to be putting up a good big block. They both can swing high. We don’t run a real quick ball with either of them. It’s not them, but if you set them they can get right above the block and hit a spot. Ellie will be our libero, she’ll be playing our back left. She’s really just starting to grow so comfortable reading hitters, covering those tips. Ava right now is working on the leftside for us, trying to get that spot. She can be a strong hitter.”

Komanec agreed that serving should be another of- fensive weapon for the Pirates.

“We have some young girls starting to jump serve and jump float for us,” she said. “We have some girls with some really nice float serves. When you come across a team where everybody float serves, it can be so frustrating, I’m hoping we’re that team this year that just has some really strong serving.”

The Pirates were clearly in upper half of Eastern Cloverbelt teams last fall with champion Columbus Catholic (7-0) and Colby and Neillsville, who both went 5-2 in league play.

Komanec still views Columbus Catholic as the team to beat, led by returning Eastern Cloverbelt Conference Player of the Year Dorci Walker. The Pirates and Lady Dons will open league play on Tuesday, Sept. 14 in Marshfield.

“We will have so much playing time in before that,” Komanec said. “We have the tournament, we have Owen, we have Thorp, we have Athens, we have Abbotsford. We’ll have some good competition before them, so I’m excited about that.”

Gilman is also scheduled to return to the Medford Invitational on Sept. 25 and host its own tournament on Oct. 9.

Gilman’s Ellie Drier gets low and gets this ball up to her setter during the volleyball team’s practice Aug. 17.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS