Abby takes down Pirates, Screaming Eagles

The Abbotsford volleyball team went 2-0 over the last week, defeating both Chequamegon and Gilman to improve their overall record to 9-5.

Chequamegon, 3-0

The Falcons got their first conference win Tuesday night, when they handily defeated the Chequamegon Screaming Eagles on the road in straight sets.

It was a dominating performance from the visiting team, which won 25-9, 25-7 and 25-14.

Abbotsford had success from the service line, with the team finding holes all over the Screaming Eagles defense. They totaled 17 aces for the match and junior Sommer Brodhagen led the team with eight.

Senior Haylee Soyk and junior Briseida Escalera were the main sources of offense once the ball made it back to their side of the court, with Soyk recording six kills and Escalera having four. Soyk was also part of two blocks on the evening.

Gilman, 3-1

Abbotsford bounced back from their loss to Prentice with a win over Gilman last week Thursday.

The Falcons needed two late game rallies to put away the visiting Pirates in a match that went to four games. The final two were especially competitive, as both teams were finally able to settle into their offensive systems after some shaky play in the first two sets.

While the match was competitive throughout, it certainly did not appear as if it was going to be close in the early parts of the first set. The Falcons jumped out to a 14-4 lead and appeared poised to make quick work of the Pirates. However, Gilman sorted out their early problems and made slow progress to bring themselves back into the game. The Pirates went on a run late and claimed the lead as the game pushed past the 20-point mark. In fact, up 24-22, the visitors were only a point away from completing the comeback and winning the first set. The Falcons proved to be resilient though, even after giving up such a large lead, and went on a four-point run to claim the victory, 26-24.

Abbotsford once again quickly secured a big lead in the second set, going up 12-4 at one point. Much like the previous game, the Pirates worked their way back into the game, tying the game at 16-16. Gilman won a breakpoint on their serve, taking the lead 17-16 and would not look back, dominating the rest of the way and taking the second set 25-19.

With momentum clearly shifted on the side of the visitors, the Pirates came out swinging in the third set, and this time it was Abbotsford who would need to respond early. Despite their early successes in the first two sets, the home team had struggled to get their offense into a good flow, often settling to send free balls over to the Pirates later in the sets. As set number three progressed, however, the Falcons began to find themselves and better utilize the variety of weapons they have on the offensive side of the net.

A key point in the match came early in set three. Abbotsford had just tied the game at 9-9 after being down early and was looking to take over the lead. A long back and forth volley saw both teams set up their ideal offensive sets, but excellent defensive play kept the ball in the air. When the ball was finally launched into the stands after a Gilman player made a diving effort to keep the rally alive, the Falcons seemed to have won more than just a single point. They’d use that momentum to build a small lead, which the Pirates would contest at points throughout the set but would ultimately be unable to overcome. The difference maker came on two big kills of the right arm of Escalara, who powered through Gilman’s block twice late in the set. Soyk finished the game off with a perfectly placed shot in the back right corner, giving the Falcons the 25-22 victory.

Soyk came through with some tone setting plays early in the fourth set, rocketing two shots down the middle that no Pirate defender had a chance of returning. She also combined with Escalara on a huge block of Gilman’s top offensive weapon, senior middle hitter Tatum Weir, whose height had been giving the Falcons trouble all evening, both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Weir also was deadly from the service line, getting the Pirates back into the game with a series of tough to return serves. Abbotsford once again lost an early lead and the Pirates began to pull away late, going up 21-17.

The Falcons weren’t out of it yet though, and a sideout would give the ball over to the home team, with junior Sydney Falteisek next on the rotation. Falteisek started off the series with an ace, which turned out to be a harbinger of things to come. She continued to make things difficult on the Pirates’ receivers, forcing the visitors to send over easy balls that, with the Falcons offense looking much more cohesive now than in the earlier two sets, Abbotsford was able to capitalize on. Another ace and several tough serves later and suddenly the Falcons were up 24-21. With match point on the line, the Falcons went to Soyk to put the game away. Setter Faith Sperl sent up a quick set to Soyk in the middle, which she empathetically smashed between Gilman’s front and back rows to end the game, 25-21.

Soyk had an impressive 17 kills in the match on a .391% hitting percentage, followed by Brodhagen with 10, Falteisek with nine and Escalera with six. Senior libero Adriana Fuentes-Rivera led the team with 14 digs, with Soyk and Sperl having 12 and 11 respectively. Soyk also led the team in blocks with six.