Hornets in midseason form, pick up six wins
By Nathaniel Underwood
To say that the Colby volleyball team has been on a tear the past few weeks may be an understatement. After starting the season 33, the Hornets have gone 12-2 since, only dropping five sets over that span. Over the past week, Colby picked up two Cloverbelt-East victories, dispatching Neillsville 3-1 on the road before sweeping Greenwood in their first home match of the season. Between those victories, the Hornets traveled to Baraboo for a weekend tournament, where they went 4-1, their only loss coming at the hands of Richland Center.
Greenwood, 3-0
The Hornets picked up their second conference victory of the season on Tuesday night when they hosted the Greenwood Indians. Colby completely dominated the affair, taking the match in straight sets 25-9, 25-11, and 25-10.
The visitors had their hands full with a lethal serving game from the Hornets. Colby’s assault started straight from the service line, piling up aces or making it difficult for Greenwood to set up their offense. This was especially apparent in the first set, where Colby was able to take a 20-3 lead, scoring 11 straight points with libero Tori Underwood serving. While the Indians managed to stabilize in the final few rallies, errors still plagued their early play and a net violation gave the home team the first set.
The deadly serving continued into the second set, where Hannah Trush got the Hornets on the board with an ace and Daelyn Rieck added three more immediately afterwards to give Colby a 5-1 lead. An impressive setter dump from Savana Thomsen made it 10-2 and a few kills courtesy of Trush and Harrison Schmitt put the Hornets up double digits.
Greenwood managed a small run to cut the deficit down to six at 13-7, but Colby answered with a run of their own, scoring eight straight points with Addisyn Weiland serving. A block from Brynn Polivka capped off the run that reestablished the Hornets’ hold on the game and another ace from Rieck ended the second set 25-11.
Rieck picked up right where she left off in the third set, scoring two aces as Colby opened up a 5-0 lead. The Hornets’offensive firepower proved too much for the Indians to keep up with as the home team once again picked apart Greenwood’s offense. An 7-0 run in the midgame allowed Colby to once again take a double digit lead and two aces from Angelique Hernandez sealed the Hornets’ second conference win.
“The girls looked good tonight,” head coach Wade Oehmichen said. “ Being our first home match of the year, it was a very energetic crowd with a lot of our youth booster volleyball players in attendance.”
Baraboo Tournament
This past Saturday, Colby traveled to Baraboo for a tournament in which they squared off against five other programs from across the state. While they fell in their opening match against Richland Center, the Hornets bounced back to win four straight.
In a battle of the Hornets, Richland Center narrowly eked out a win, even though Colby ended the match with more points won. In a tense, back and forth opening set, Richland Center was the first to gain a two-point advantage after 25 points, winning 31-29. Colby took control of the second set, however, winning by double digits 25-14, but was unable to complete the comeback as they fell 15-13 in the tiebreaker. Rieck and Schmitt led the offense, the former picking up 14 kills and the latter adding nine. Colby als had four blocks in the game, with Polivka and Lilly Brzezinski assisting on two each, Dakota Hoeper picking up a solo block and Thomsen and Schmitt both recording one assist.
The Hornets did not lose a set after their loss to Richmond Center, sweeping Lancaster 25-20, 25-18 in the next match and bouncing the hosting Baraboo squad 25-10, 25-21. Rieck picked up 17 kills in two matches combined while Thomsen was second on the team with eight kills. 12 aces propelled the Hornets against Baraboo, with Rieck ending the game with four and Schmitt picking up three.
Colby continued to roll in their next match, cruising past Pardeeville 25-12, 25--
See HORNET HOTSTREAK/ Page 12
DOMINATING PERFORMANCE - Daelyn Rieck, left, and Brynn Polivka, right, helped the Hornets to a conference victory over the Greenwood Indians on Tuesday night. Colby swept their Cloverbelt-East foes, winning all three sets by double-digits.
STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Hornet hotstreak
Continued from page 10 15, with Hoeper and Rieck both recording six kills each and Thomsen and Underwood both picking up two aces in the victory.
In their final match of the day, the Hornets grabbed their second victory over Mauston this season, defeating the Golden Eagles 2521 and 25-18. Rieck scored double digit kills in the win, finishing with 10, while Schmitt had five and Thomsen, Brzezinski and Hoeper all had four. On defense, Brzezinski had one solo block and one assist and Rieck and Underwood led the team in digs with 11 and 10 respectively.
“The girls played fantastic today; I couldn't be more proud of this group,” Oehmichen said following the tournament. “Every event so far this year they have taken big steps forward and are by far playing their best volleyball.”
Neillsville, 3-1
The Hornets opened their 2024 Cloverbelt- East campaign with a trip to Neillsville last Tuesday. Colby took a good first step towards their preseason goal of winning the conference title by defeating the Warriors 31.
Colby got off to a fast start, battering back their hosts in the first set and opening a double digit lead that they would hold until the end, winning 25-13. The Warriors came back in the second set, however, and in the closest game of the match, the hosting Neillsville squad came out on top, winning 26-24.
The third set remained competitive but Colby wrested momentum back from the home team, eventually taking the set 25-21. This led to the most lopsided game of the entire affair, as the Hornets bulldozed their way to their third and final victory, dousing Neillsville 25-11.
Colby was impressive at the net all game, recording seven total blocks as a team. Schmitt ended the game with three assisted blocks while Thomsen, Brzezinski and Hoeper all got in on two each. Rieck and Polvika also had two solo blocks.
The Hornets continued their strong serving this season by putting together 16 aces in the win. Thomsen led the team with five, Trush picked up four and Rieck and Schmitt had three each.
Offensively, the Hornets turned to Rieck and Hoeper most often and the pair delivered, recording hitting percentages of .225 and .240 respectively. Rieck ended the game with 17 kills while Hoeper also reached double digits with 10.
Colby will have an important Cloverbelt-East test on Thursday when they travel to Marshfield to take on Columbus Catholic. The Dons have held a tight hold on the Cloverbelt-East for the better part of a decade and any change to that status quo will likely have to go through them once again. Columbus, ranked eighth in the state in Division 5, is coming off a sweep of Neillsville and is also 2-0 in the Cloverbelt-East conference, though their overall record is 13-13 this season. The match between Colby and the Dons will start at 7:15 p.m.
SERVING UP ACES - Tori Underwood unleashes another tough serve in the first set against Greenwood in Colby’s first home match of the season.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
