Falcons outduel Colby in rivalry match

An intense atmosphere settled over Abbotsford’s gymnasium as fans packed the bleachers for the rivalry game between the Falcons and their neighbors just to the south, the Colby Hornets. The home team came out on top in a hard fought match, defeating the Hornets three sets to one.

This was not your typical non-conference match. That much was evidenced almost immediately when the crowd erupted into boisterous cheers after the Falcons scored their first point of the match. A resounding roar thundered from the opposite side of the gymnasium when Colby responded. For anyone attending, it was clear that there was more on the line than just another notch in the win column for both teams.

All four Falcon seniors, Haylee Soyk, Adriana Fuentes-Rivera, Alexis Graun and Jaydon Rothenberger, started for Abbotsford on their Senior Night. They’d lead their teammates through a closelycontested match with their Cloverbelt-East opponents.

After a fierce back and forth early in the first set, Colby was first to claim a significant lead. The Hornets took advantage of some good serves in the opening rallies to keep pace with the Falcons offense before going on a run to go up 17-13 in the middle of the set. Abbotsford maintained their composure, however, coming back to tie the game at 22-22. Continuing to ride that momentum, the Falcons were the first to reach 24 points. With the match on the line, Colby won three points in a row to take the lead back, and while their defense made several great diving plays on the rallies that followed, they couldn’t follow up on offense.

Several intense rallies ensued, highlighted by a putback by Abbotsford junior Sydney Falteisek on an errant deep pass by the Hornets to put the Falcons up 27-26. The following rally, Abbotsford’s junior outside hitter Calley Ruesch powered through Colby’s attempted block, the ball dribbling between the would-be blockers and the net before finding the floor. The north side of the gym burst into cheers and applause as the Falcons put away the Hornets in the first set, 2826.

Abbotsford made sure that the second set was not nearly as close as the first, building a solid lead in the middle portions of the game and making sure to keep Colby on the back foot. The Falcons would cruise to a 25-21 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

Down two sets to zero, the Hornets had their backs against the wall. The end of the second set had moved momentum solidly in the Falcons favor and Abbotsford took a small advantage early in the third set of the evening. However, the visitors never allowed them to gain more than a three-point lead. Colby creeped back into the game, tying it at 11-11. It was then that the Hornets went on a run.

With their senior setter Jorja Weiland at the service line, Colby scored five straight points. Weiland had one ace over this stretch and forced Abbotsford defense into some difficult passes with her serves. Colby sophomore Savana Thomsen, next up in the serving rotation, would do similar work, the Hornets taking a huge 22-12 lead off of her serves. Soyk managed to stop the bleeding on a strong hit up the middle, but the damage had already been done. Freshman Daelyn Rieck finished off the Falcons with an ace serve to give Colby the win and force a game four, 25-17.

Abbotsford’s Ruesch opened the next set strong from the service line. She collected three of her four match aces in the opening sequence of set number four, two of which were completely untouched by Colby defenders. The Falcons took a 5-0 lead with Ruesch serving, a lead that would prove to be instrumental given how close the set turned out to be.

Following a Falcon service error, a kill from Colby senior Hayden Willner ended a long, tone-setting rally that got the visitors back into the game, down only 5-2.

Later, during a pivotal moment of the match, Weiland once again helped her team from the service line, with two well-placed short serves falling for aces to give Colby their first lead of the game, 13-12. It wasn’t a lead the Hornets would maintain, but it kept them within striking distance as the game progressed into its final stages.

After trading leads at different points in the set, the two teams came into the final stretch neck and neck. With the game on the line, the energy both on and off the court had reached new heights, which was only highlighted by a number of close calls that saw the officiating crew make several reversals.

One point had to be replayed after the referees could not determine whether an Abbotsford hit out of bounds had been tipped by a Colby player. Then, with the Falcons aiming to secure match-point, a hit from Abbotsford’s Briseida Escalera found the court on a line shot, seeming to give the home team the victory. However, a late call gave Colby the point in- stead. The Hornets would use it to tie the game on the following rally. With the game tied at 24-24, the officials once again needed to confer on an Abbotsford block that landed out of bounds. The initial call appeared to give the point to Colby, but after some discussions, the play reversed, with the first referee seeming to indicate that the Colby hitter had tipped the ball on its way back down.

Now with the lead and a chance to end the game, Abbotsford went to their senior middle hitter, Soyk, who landed the finishing blow with a powerful hit down the middle that could not be corralled by the Hornets’ defense. This time, the result was obvious, with no need for review. The Falcons’ student section rushed the court to celebrate the hard fought 26-24 victory, another year of bragging rights secured.

Much like on the final play of the match, the Hornets did not have an answer for Soyk’s offense for much of the evening. Whether hitting from the net or the back row, the senior was extremely difficult to stop, accumulating 19 kills on a .324 hitting percentage. Escelara had the second most kills for the Falcons with eight and Ruesch made the most of her opportunities, getting six kills on 13 chances.

The Falcons had 12 aces, the second most for a five set game this year, though their 18 service errors were by far the most they’ve had. Escelara led the team with six aces and Ruech had four herself.

Defensively, Fuentes-Rivera led Abbotsford in digs, recording 12 over the course of the match. Freshman Faith Sperl had 11 and Soyk contributed 10.

Willner once again led the Hornets’ offense, recording 12 kills on 27 attempts and three errors. Harrison Schmitt added nine kills of her own and Thomsen finished with seven.

Weiland and Thomsen finished with three aces each.

For the second loss in a row, hitting and service errors would haunt the Hornets. 13 errors while serving added to 21 hitting errors resulted in a combined 34 unforced points for the Falcons. Abbotsford also struggled in this area, mostly resulting in a wash, but it was something that either team could have taken advantage of.

Defensively, Willner had 16 digs and Thomsen came in with 10 of her own. Junior Lydia Decker had three total blocks, with two solo blocks and one assisted.

Clintonville Invite

After the cross-town battle, Abbotsford took a trip to Clintonville on Saturday, September 17 to play in the Clintonville Invite. There, the Falcons posted a 2-3 record which gave them fifth place at the event. The Falcons started off with losses to Southern Door, Ripon and Shawano before rebounding to beat St. Mary’s Catholic and that same Shawano team.

Abbotsford vs. Athens

Abbotsford then returned home and dropped a heartbreaker to Athens on Tuesday night. The Bluejays are ranked second in the Division 4 according to the Max-Preps girls volleyball rankings. The Falcons dropped the first set to the Bluejays but battled back to take the next two sets and a 2-1 lead.

The Falcons were unable to close out the match as they dropped the fourth set by a score of 16-25 and the fifth set by a tally of 8-15.

The Hornets had the weekend off but traveled to Neillsville on Tuesday where they lost to the Warriors, 3-0.

Colby will face Greenwood on Thursday at the Dick Gunderson Memorial Gymnasium before joining the Falcons in the Abbotsford volleyball tournament on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

ONE ON ONE -Colby’s Hayden Willner takes on Abbotsford’s Sydney Falteisek during Thursday night’s match. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD