Hornets close season on four-match win streak

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby volleyball team ended their regular season on a strong note, picking up four straight victories to recapture momentum heading into the WIAA playoffs. The Hornets went 3-0 in a quad hosted by Clayton last Monday evening before claiming a victory over the McDonell Central Macks in their Cloverbelt-East/West crossover game on Tuesday.

McDonell Central, 3-2

The matchup between Hornets and the Macks went right down to the wire in both teams’ final test before entering the WIAA tournament. After getting off to a hot start and going up 2-0 on the visiting McDonell squad, Colby dropped two sets in a row and had to rally in the fifth and final set.

Strong serves from Hannah Trush put the Macks on the immediate back foot and allowed the Hornets to take a 6-0 lead. A block by Savana Thomsen and Lilly Brzezinski capped off the run and another solo block by Brzezinski gave Colby a 9-1 advantage a few rallies later. The block parade continued as Thomsen and Harrison Schmitt combined for yet another stop at the net to make the score 14-2, the largest lead the Hornets would hold in the contest.

Immediately following that play, however, the Macks went on a huge run of their own, scoring nine straight points to suddenly make it a three-point game. Thomsen won a joust at the net to finally end the run, but the comfortable lead the Hornets had established had all but dissipated. McDonell threatened to tie the game 18-18, but another big block for Colby, this time courtesy of Daelyn Rieck and Brynn Polivka, managed to hold back the charging Macks. The Hornets outscored the visitors 6-2 following the block and Thomsen put the game away by sending an overpass back across the net, a hit that Mc-Donell could not handle.

Set number two started with the Hornets doing what they did best in the first set; making a play at the net. Brzezinski recorded another solo block to give Colby a 1-0 lead and Rieck served up an ace to put the Hornets up by two. However, McDonell would not allow the Hornets fast start to get out of hand for a second time, instead taking their first lead of the match at 5-4 and then building out a 12-7 advantage.

See COLBY VOLLEYBALL/ Page 17

SETTING UP THE OFFENSE - Hannah Trush delivers a pass to the setter during the Hornets 3-2 victory over McDonell Central. The senior also had five aces in the win.

STAFF PHOTO/LINDA FILTZKOWSKI Colby volleyball

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A kill from Rieck triggered a four-point run for Colby, but they could not quite overcome the Macks’ lead yet. They tied numerous times over the next few rallies and finally got over the hump after a hitting error by Mc-Donell put the Hornets up 17-16. A kill from Dakota Hoeper pushed that lead to 20-16 and the Macks were never able to recover. Rieck found the back line on game point and the Hornets went up 2-0 with a 25-21 win.

After a back and forth opening to the third set, it was McDonell that took the first significant lead, going on an 8-2 run in the midgame to put themselves up 17-11. The Hornets managed to rally back within three, but the Macks dominated as the set moved to its conclusion, scoring the final seven points to take a 25-16 victory.

McDonell continued to roll in the fourth set, going up 12-7 early. Colby once again battled back, tying the game at 14-14 on a Hoeper kill before Thomsen followed her to give the Hornets the lead. The two squads battled back and forth, the lead changing hands before a Brzezinski kill got the Hornets within two points of victory. The Macks once again staved off defeat, however, going on a 5-1 run to take the 26-24 victory.

The two squads traded small leads to open the final game, but it was the Hornets that finally broke through. A hitting error by the Macks broke an 8-8 tie and two consecutive kills from Rieck made it a three point lead. It was the beginnings of a match-deciding 6-1 run for the Hornets, capped off by an ace from Schmitt. A serving error by McDonell a few rallies layer delivered Colby the 15-11 victory and the match.

“All around the ladies played amazing,” head coach Wade Oehmichen said following the win. “They are a fun team to watch when they turn on the focus. The offense was led by Daelyn Rieck, I don’t have the stats back yet but she was unstoppable. Lilly Brzezinski had one of her best performances last night, with a handful of critical blocks. Anything close to the net Lilly was all over it, it was fun to watch.”

“Other great performances last night, Hannah Trush with a dominating serve that led the charge for the Colby dominance in this match the whole night,” he added. “Harrison Schmitt, who has earned the nickname the ‘Hornet Hustler’ showed the crowd why, she had a diving foot save in game 5 that might have been the most athletic thing I’ve seen in a long time; that play put us up for good in that last match. Dakota Hoeper had one of her best nights hitting and Savana Thomsen picked apart their defense, with her as an offensive threat in the front row she keeps the blockers guessing. It’s fun to watch.”

The Hornets had an impressive 11 total blocks in the win. Brzezinski lead the way at the net for Colby, recording three solo blocks and getting in on four assisted blocks. Thomsen had four block assists herself and Rieck and Polivka were in on two blocks each.

Rieck and Hoeper accounted for 29 of the team’s 46 kills, with Rieck collecting 19 on a .241 hitting percentage and Hoeper adding 10, also with a .241 hitting percentage. Brzezinski and Thomsen had six kills each.

Trush ended the match with five aces and Tori Underwood led the defensive back line with 23 digs.

Clayton Quad

Colby made a clean sweep at the Clayton quad last Monday, winning all six sets played against the hosting Bears, Boyceville and Mellen.

The match against Clayton was, at least by the final scores, the closest of the matches, but the Hornets still won by a solid 25-21 score in each of their sets played against the home team. They doubled up the Bears in kills, recording 29 to Clayton’s 14, and also had five more aces over the course of the match, ending the game with eight while Clayton only managed three. Rieck led the way for the offense, putting up 10 kills, and teammates Trush and Hoeper had five kills each. Thomsen and Underwood both had three aces and nine digs to co-lead the team in both categories.

While Colby’s first set against Boyceville was their tightest of the tourney, a 25-22 final, they cruised to a 25-18 win in the second game to put away the Bulldogs. The team had four total blocks and Brzezinski was in on half of them, recording one solo block and one block assist. Rieck had a team high eight kills, Schmitt picked up five and Brzezinski added four more. Underwood and Rieck both ended the match with double-digit digs, recording 10 each.

The Hornets also took care of business against Mellen, trouncing them 25-16 in the first set before sealing the win with a 25-20 victory in the second. While the offense struggled slightly, only recording 17 kills on a .035 hitting percentage, Colby still played solid defense and outlasted their opponents. Schmitt had a team-high six kills and .357 hitting percentage and was in on two of the Hornets’ four blocks. Underwood led Colby from the service area, putting together a fiveace performance.

The Hornets finished the regular season with a 24-8 overall record and a 5-2 record in the Cloverbelt-East. They took second place in the conference and grabbed a four-seed in the WIAA playoffs. This earned them a first round bye and they will play Durand-Arkansaw, the fifth seed, who defeated the Gale-Ettrick- Trempealeau in their opening playoff match on Saturday. The Panthers are 21-3 and won the Dunn-St. Croix conference. The second-round match-up between the two squads will be in Colby on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.

DIGGING IT OUT - Libero Tori Underwood makes a play on a McDonell spike during the Cloverbelt crossover event last Tuesday.

STAFF PHOTO/LINDA FILTZKOWSKI