WIAA DIV. 5 VOLLEYBALL - Columbus is too much again; Gilman’s season ends in semifinal

WIAA DIV. 5 VOLLEYBALL

Too many mistakes early in the match and too much Shelby Spata throughout the match brought an end to Gilman’s volleyball season Thursday in a 3-1 WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal loss at topseeded and eventual sectional champion Columbus Catholic.

Spata had a standout night both offensively and defensively with 23 kills and 17 digs while leading the Dons to their third win of the season over the secondseeded Pirates. Columbus Catholic, now 25-15, is the second seed at the WIAA Division 5 state tournament in Green Bay and faces third-seeded Newman Catholic (29-13) in a semifinal today, Thursday.

Gilman finished its second straight regional-championship season at 18-11.

“Congratulations to this group of athletes for being a part of bringing home another regional plaque for this program and our school,” Gilman head coach Janice Komanec said. “What a great achievement and a great memory to have. This group of girls, especially the seniors, have so much to be proud of, not just in their achievements competing on the court but also in the example they have set for our younger players. The way they have cared about and encouraged one another as well as loved and appreciated their time together has been a joy to watch. I am just so grateful to have been able to be a part of it.”

After winning the regional title on Oct. 26, the Pirates ran into a tough week of preparation for Thursday’s sectional match with illness hitting several team members. That forced Gilman to make some lineup switches in the match, but that didn’t affect the Pirates in the opening moments.

Addy Vick got a kill, Jaylen Copenhaver’s push off a Columbus Catholic block got a point and Claire Drier put down a kill and added ace to forge a 55 tie in the first set. Aubrey Mann’s kills gave Gilman leads of 8-7 and 9-8.

But then the Pirates hit a stretch of unforced errors and Columbus Catholic’s strong defense allowed the Dons to outlast Gilman in some long rallies, putting the Pirates in a 17-9 hole. Jaylyn Orth, one of the Pirates hit hardest early in the week, came off the bench and provided a kill to momentarily stop the run, but Gilman wasn’t able to get any closer in the set, falling 25-17.

The momentum really swung the Dons’ way in set two when Gilman struggled mightily with serve receive and frequently found itself out of system. Spata served two early aces and Della Trader served two more as Columbus Catholic jumped ahead 10-5. It was 14-8 when Gilman couldn’t handle a Gracie Wilczek serve, Spata got three kills and Aubrey Waldhauser added an ace in an 11-5 spurt that made it 21-10. Spata and Abigail Kibbel had two kills each as the Dons finished off a 25-13 win.

Just when the Pirates seemed in over their heads, they came back with a wellplayed third set to extend the match. A Mann kill and Copenhaver ace sparked a 6-2 start that forced a Columbus timeout. Drier got on a roll with three kills and Abby Chaplinski rolled a kill off the net for an 11-9 lead. From there, it was a backand-forth with neither team leading by more than two for the rest of the game.

Gilman held leads of 22-20 and 24-22 after Columbus mistakes, but the Dons went on a three-point run to reach match point at 25-24 on a Waldhauser ace. But Kayleigh James bumped to Chaplinski, whose push couldn’t be returned. Spata’s bump fell, but Drier answered with a kill to tie it at 26-26. Alayna Egle’s top was answered by a Vick kill, tying it at 27-27. The Pirates then got a huge Kenlyn Kroeplin ace to take the lead a Dons error ended the set in Gilman’s favor 29-27.

Orth’s kill to the back line put the Pirates up 4-2 to start the fourth set. Drier hit a winner off a block to tie it at 5-5 and the Pirates thought they have the next point on Drier’s perfect tip over a block, but a rotation error gave the Dons the point and seemingly sucked some of the air out of Gilman’s sails.

Columbus surged ahead 11-6 before Allie Olynick, another Pirate hit hard by illness during the week and was limited in the match, got a block kill. But from there, an 8-1 run put the Dons up 19-8, putting Gilman in big trouble.

The Pirates put up a fight, clawing within 22-14 on the second of three kills. Her third one made it 23-16 and Chaplinski’s successful push made it 2317, but a double-hit and a net violation sandwiched around a Drier kill finished the match at 25-18.

Drier had 12 kills in the match. Orth had six and Chaplinski and Mann had five each. Chaplinski had three of Gilman’s six aces. The Pirates had five errors in 67 serves (92.5%).

Vick led the team with three total blocks. James and Chaplinski had 16 digs each, Drier had 14 and Copenhaver added 13. Chaplinski had 27 assists.

Gilman’s program says goodbye to 10 seniors, seven of whom have spent multiple years on the varsity roster, including Drier, Chaplinski, James, Alison Krizan, Orth, Kroeplin and Copenhaver.

The future, however, remains bright for a program that started the season with 31 players and some talent to work with in all three remaining classes.

Gilman’s Addy Vick watches her off-speed attempt deflect off Columbus Catholic blocker Chayse Blenker late in the third set of Thursday’s WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal match in Marshfield. The Dons got this point, but Gilman took the set 29-27. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Gilman’s Claire Drier slams an attack into a Columbus block for a point during game three Thursday.