Pirates make it close, but Athens comes away with a 3-1 win

GILMAN VOLLEYBALL

The Gilman Pirates got the test they were expecting from 2022 Marawood North champion and WIAA Division 4 sectional champion Athens Thursday and were on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead against the host Blue Jays.

That chance slipped away, however, and the Pirates never fully recovered in the 3-1 well-played, early-season non-conference battle. The defeat snapped Gilman’s sixmatch winning streak and dropped the Pirates to 6-2 heading into another nonconference test against a Marawood rival tonight, Thursday, when Abbotsford visits for Gilman’s home opener. That will be Gilman’s final tune-up before Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play starts Tuesday with a home match against Colby.

“Though we didn’t get the win on Thursday night, there were many positives to encourage us and clear areas that we can continue to work on to improve,” Gilman head coach Janice Komanec said.

Athens led a back-and-forth first set in Thursday’s match 13-11 when the Pirates made their move. Allison Olynick tied it with a kill, then Danielle Mann, who had a big night, got a middle kill off an Abby Chaplinski assist to put the Pirates ahead 14-13. Jazelle Hartwig’s spike deflected off a block to tie it for Athens, then the Pirates went on a 6-0 run that included a Mann block kill, an ace from Claire Drier and an off-speed line shot from Olynick. Two Hartwig aces pulled Athens within 20-18 and sparked a minirun that eventually tied the set at 22-22. After Komanec called a timeout, Mann’s back row attack deflected off a block and fell on Athens’ side of the floor. The Jays couldn’t return a tough serve by Kenlyn Kroeplin to give Gilman game point. Sophia Coker got a kill for Athens, but Jaylyn Orth saved the set for the Pirates, getting a dig at the net and then pushing the ball to open space along the sideline to win it 25-23.

Gilman’s momentum carried into the game two. Mann and Bryn Hendricks made things happen at the net, then a Mann ace and an Orth kill opened up a 13-9 lead. Drier and Mann tooled shots off blocks as Gilman took a 17-14 lead, but then Athens turned things around, keyed by two big kills and a block from Coker, and grabbed a 20-17 lead. Kroeplin’s dig off a Coker attack and a Mann kill kept the Pirates in it briefly but Athens closed out the set 25-19.

The momentum switch was truly felt in game three, which Athens controlled. The Jays led 10-4 after a Hartwig ace and then the lead went to 12-5. Two Drier kills got Gilman within 10-5, but the Pirates got no closer, falling 25-14.

“Passing will continue to be an area that we focus on,” Komanec said. “We started the match passing well, and that turned into offensive points for us. As the night went on, we got tired and our serve receive and defensive movements slowed down a bit, affecting our accuracy. Our aggressiveness at the net also lessened. We need to increase our conditioning and drill pace in practices to build not only the physical strength but also the mental toughness needed once we get into the fourth and fifth sets of these big matches.”

Athens led the fourth set 7-2 and 11-6 when Gilman regained some footing and made a run at extending the match to a fifth set.

Kroeplin served an ace to make it 11-8 and Chaplinski dug up an Athens block and got up an assist to Orth to make it 1110. Kayleigh James put Gilman up 13-12 with back-to-back aces and the lead grew to 15-12. James had three big saves on one rally that ended with a scoring roll shot from Chaplinski off a Drier assist, giving Gilman a 16-14 lead. But a 5-1 run by Athens put the Jays back on top and that’s where they stayed. Mann and Hendricks had kills and Mann added an ace, but finished off the match with a 25-21 win.

Mann’s outstanding night included 14 kills, six blocks and two aces. Drier had nine kills, Hendricks had seven and Orth stepped up her game with six. Hendricks had four blocks, while Olynick and Orth had two each. James and Kroeplin also finished with two aces each. Chaplinski had 34 assists.

Coker had 13 kills, Hartwig had 12 and Sy’Rih Hartwig added 11 kills and three solo blocks for Athens, who improved to 9-4 at the time.

After Tuesday’s match with Colby, Gilman will head back to Prentice, where they won an invitational on Aug. 26, to face the host Buccaneers in a non-conference match that starts at 7 p.m.