Pirates sweep Blackhawks, but loss to Warriors hurts ECC chances
GILMAN VOLLEYBALL
While Columbus Catholic is looking like an unbeatable volleyball force once again atop the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, the Gilman Pirates still had a chance to make a push toward second place heading into Tuesday night.
That, however, is no longer looking like a possibility after the Pirates were swept 3-0 by host Neillsville.
Head coach Janice Komanec simply termed it as a rough night as the Warriors won the first two sets by close scores of 25-23 and 25-21 and then buried the Pirates 25-13 in the third set to close it out.
Gilman is 2-2 in conference play with three matches left. The Pirates are at Loyal tonight, Thursday, and host Greenwood Tuesday in two very winnable matches. Columbus Catholic will be in town Oct. 6 looking to put the final touches on their sixth straight conference title.
Tatum Weir led Gilman statistically in Tuesday’s match with nine kills, four block kills and two service aces. Claire Drier added four kills and Abby Chaplinski had 18 assists. Gracie Tallier and Bryn Hendricks had three kills each.
Ellie Drier led Gilman with 14 digs. Tallier had 10, Chaplinski had eight and Kayleigh James added seven. Tshiya Keepers and Hendricks both had two blocks.
With the win, Neillsville improved to 3-1 in conference play and is tied with Loyal for second place. Those two teams will finish the conference season playing each other Oct. 6 at Loyal.
Gilman 3, O-W 0
The Pirates never trailed at any point while taking care of Owen-Withee in a 3-0 sweep Thursday on Parents’ Night in Gilman.
Komanec said it was a night where the offense clicked and it started with strong passing.
“It was a good night for the girls; I’m happy for them,” Komanec said. “We passed well. Of course that gets your offense going. It’s a team we should dominate and I’m glad we did. We controlled the entire match, each set. We built some momentum.
“Right now the pace of our outside is getting pretty good, especially between Abby and Gracie,” she added. “We’re mixing in some back row. Abby is making really good choices. Offensively we’re seeing all of our options. First contact matters because we have the offense. Tonight we passed well.”
Gilman quickly established control in the opening set. Chaplinski served an early ace in a 3-0 start. Claire Drier’s dig led to a point at 4-1 and Tallier served up back-to-back aces to make it 7-1. The lead grew to 12-2 and 16-5. Weir got a kill and a tip to keep the distance at 18-9. Tallier served another ace and digs at the net on back-to-back points by Keepers and Weir led to the clinching points in a 25-15 win.
Kenlyn Kroeplin had two aces in a mini run that put the Pirates up 5-0 to start game two. The next stretch of the game belonged to Keepers, the senior middle who is in just her second year of volleyball and continuing to improve. After a Tallier kill made it 8-3, Keepers won a battle at the net for the next two points and then hit a kill to the back line. She won two more battles at the net to help widen the lead to 14-7. The Pirates later went on a little run with Hendricks serving, then Keepers got a block and Weir added a kill to finish the set at 25-11 “Tshiya is so fast, so quick and so aggressive,” Komanec said. “Every practice you see her improving her swing. She’s getting really great contact on tips. She needs just more training on seeing the block, seeing that double and when it’s not the double. Where do I tip now based on what I see in front of me? But she certainly loves to block.”
Gilman got out to a 10-1 lead in game three behind another serving run by Kroeplin and led by as much as 10 at 17-7 on a Claire Drier crossing shot that was touched by a Blackhawk. Owen-Withee made a little push to get within 19-13, but the Pirates responded after a timeout, getting a block on the right side from Chaplinski, a Weir kill, a Hendricks ace, a touch on a bullet hit by Tallier and a Keepers block to finish it at 25-16.
Weir led Gilman with 13 kills, Tallier had 10 and Keepers and Mann were credited with three each. Chaplinski had 26 assists. Tallier and Kroeplin added three aces each and Hendricks had two. Tallier led Gilman with 17 digs, Ellie Drier had 12 and James had seven. Chaplinski actually led Gilman with five blocks. Keepers and Weir had three each.
