Tallier bumps up to first team; three more Pirates honored

ALL-EASTERN CLOVERBELT VOLLEYBALL

Columbus Catholic continued to own the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference this fall, but the Gilman volleyball team continued to more than hold its own against the rest of the competition, finishing in third place and claiming four awards in the voting for the 2021 all-conference teams.

Junior Gracie Tallier leads the way by moving up the All-ECC first team, while junior Ellie Drier got the second-team libero spot and senior Emma Grunseth and junior Tatum Weir earned honorable mention from the league’s coaches. Grunseth was mentioned for the second straight year.

The awards follow a 5-2 season in conference play and a 12-14 year overall under head coach Janice Komanec.

With the exception of repeat Eastern Cloverbelt Player of the Year Dorci Walker of Columbus Catholic, the rest of the first team has a whole new look in 2021. Walker, Colby’s Brett Schmitt and Greenwood’s Alane Artac are the only seniors. Tallier, Jenna Kibbel of Columbus Catholic and Neillsville’s Delaney Rochester are the juniors on the squad and sophomore Courtney Sommer of Columbus Catholic holds the seventh spot on the squad.

Tallier got there after recording 72 kills in seven conference matches and 111 digs as an all-around performer for the Pirates. Most of her kills came from the left side of Gilman’s offensive attack. She also averaged nearly three aces per match with her aggressive jump serves.

Tallier had a big night in Gilman’s 3-1 win over Loyal on Oct. 5 with 16 kills and 17 digs and she followed that up two nights later with 15 kills, 18 digs, two aces and a block kill in Gilman’s 3-2 win at Greenwood.

She had a season-high six aces in a four-set win at Owen-Withee on Sept. 28, while adding 13 kills and 13 digs. Tallier had a team-high 23 digs to go with eight kills during a tough 3-2 loss to Neillsville on Sept. 30 that wound up determining second-place in the league standings.

Drier is one of three juniors on a seven- member All-ECC second team that has just two seniors –– Kya Viegut of Colby and Heavyn Kind of Spencer.

Drier emerged as a solid server, passer and defender for the Pirates, leading them with 129 digs in conference play. She added 14 service aces in league matches and had more than 30 overall during the season.

Drier had 30 digs in a five-set win over Colby on Sept. 21, 29 digs in the win at Greenwood and 26 digs in the victory at Owen-Withee. Her season-high for aces was four, which she accomplished at Owen-Withee and Greenwood. She had 33 digs in a 3-2 non-conference loss at Prentice, a WIAA Division 4 regional champion, on Sept. 16.

Grunseth returned to a more familiar position as one of Gilman’s middles this season after she set for much of 2020. She responded with 44 kills in league play as well as 10 blocks and nine service aces.

Grunseth had nine kills in the Greenwood win and eight kills in the wins over Loyal and Owen-Withee. She served three aces in the Neillsville and Owen-Withee matches and was involved in four blocks in the Neillsville match.

Weir took a noticeable jump with her play at the net in her third season with the varsity, registering 66 kills in conference play and 17 blocks. She stepped up in some key matches late in the year with 16 kills and six blocks against Neillsville, 14 kills and five blocks against Loyal and nine kills and two blocks at Greenwood. She had nine kills and three blocks against Colby and had a solid night early in the season in non-conference play at Athens with 10 kills and five blocks. She led Gilman with 30 kills during the Aug. 28 Prentice Invitational. She was involved in more than 70 blocks at the net overall during the season.

The fall included a third-place finish for Gilman in its own tournament on Oct. 9, a 2-2 finish at Prentice and a 1-3 finish at the Medford Invitational on Sept. 25. The Pirates were swept by Cloverbelt newcomer Bloomer in the third-place Cloverbelt Crossover match on Oct. 12 and were surprisingly swept as a seventh-seed by 10th-seeded Frederic in their WIAA Division 4 opener on Oct. 19.

After winning the Eastern Cloverbelt championship for the fifth straight year and not losing a set in league play, Columbus Catholic reached the sectional final round of the WIAA Division 4 tournament where, without the injured Walker, the Lady Dons lost 3-1 to Wabeno-Laona. No other Eastern Cloverbelt team advanced past the regional semifinal round of tournament play.