Hornets claim top spot in Edgar tourney
It has been a tale of two halves for the Colby volleyball team in 2023. After a slow start to the season, in which the Hornets went 2-9 in their first eleven contests, they have since found their footing. They have won 11 out of their last 18 matches, including a recent hot streak in which they have gone 6-1.
“Our improvements this season have been significant and more than I’ve seen with past groups,” head coach Wade Oehmichen said of the recent success the Hornets have seen. “The team has embraced the idea that everyone plays better when they don’t just rely on one person to make a play. This can be seen in our improvements in digging, covering hitters, and out-of-system hitting. We have multiple players with 20 or more assists on the year who are looking to help put up a hittable ball when the ball is out of reach of a setter.”
“The girls are hungry, clicking as a team, and having fun, so it makes practice and matches enjoyable,” he added. “So we are ready for playoffs and seem to be peaking at the right time.”
The squad wrapped up their Cloverbelt-East schedule with a win over Spencer last Thursday, locking up a second-place finish. They then claimed the top spot at a tournament held in Edgar this past Saturday.
One could not find a better conclusion in Colby’s final regular season tournament, as the Hornets continued their second-half tear to take first place in the Edgar Invite this past Saturday. They went 3-1 in their matches, pushing within one game of .500 on the season.
Colby defeated Bruce and Rib Lake and split two matches with the hosting Wildcats, though the Hornets came out on top when it mattered most.
In their matches against Red Raiders and the Redmen, Colby cruised to 2-0 sweeps.
The Hornets took double digit victories in their games with Bruce, outscoring their opponents 25-13 and 25-9 to win in straight sets.
Kylie Orth had a .368 hitting percentage, getting eight kills on 19 attempts and recording only one hitting error in the match with the Red Raiders. Savana Thomsen had four kills on just seven attempts and added three aces from the service line. Tori Underwood added four more aces to lead the Hornets while also recording a team-high ten digs and Hannah Trush recorded three aces. Anna Kroll had the team’s sole block in the contest.
Similar success was found in the Hornets’ match against Rib Lake. They very nearly added two more wins by 10 or more points, defeating the Redmen 25-15 in their first set and then adding a 25-16 win in the second game.
Lydia Decker and Dakota Hoeper combined for five kills each to lead the offense for the Hornets. Meanwhile, Thomsen and Harrison Schmitt came up with some big blocks on the defensive end, with Thomsen ending the game as part of three and Schmitt recording four block assists and one solo block.
In their loss to Edgar, the two teams each dominated a set, with the Wildcats opening the match with a 25-13 win before Colby bounced back with a 25-12 in set number two. Edgar took the tiebreaker 15-9 to win the match, but it would be a different story in the two squad’s next meeting.
Once again, the Wildcats jumped out to a big win in the first set, going up 1-0 with a 25-15 win. The Hornets edged out Edgar in the second set 25-21 and then won the decisive third set 16-14, a key victory to their eventual first place finish.
“Our success in conference play and on Saturday has been to absorb the stress of close games and not shrink but to stay aggressive offensively,” Oehmichen said. “We have had multiple matches this season go to five games and we won all but one. Learning from these experiences has helped this team mature to see what wins matches is aggressive play and getting away from the attitude of playing not to lose.”
Spencer, 3-2
The Hornets finished off their conference schedule with a victory over Spencer last Thursday, coming through in the final set to just edge out the visiting Rockets. With the win, Colby finished with a 6-1 record in the Cloverbelt-East conference, taking second place behind the Columbus Catholic Dons. The result relegated Spencer into a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference.
Colby opened the match with two set victories, downing the Rockets 25-20 in the first set and then dominating the second game, coming away with a 25-9 win.
Despite the disparity of the second set, Spencer was able to regroup, bouncing back to force a fourth game after just edging out the Hornets in the third set, 25-23. Momentum swung to the visiting Rockets squad in the fourth set, as they won in convincing fashion, 25-15.
Just as Spencer had done in set number three, Colby was able to change the flow of the match in the decisive set. While they had watched their two-game advantage disappear, the Hornets took control in the final game, outscoring the Rockets 15-5 en route to their third straight conference victory.
Savana Thomsen and Daelyn Rieck co-led the Hornets’ attack, both ending the match with 14 kills and hitting percentages of .370 and .216 respectively. Thomsen also added 16 assists and Rieck had three aces in the match. Dakota Hoeper and Kylie Orth were also effective on offense, boasting hitting percentages of .385 and .235 while recording six kills each.
Hannah Trush ended the match with three aces while Josie Higley added two more to go with her 24 assists.
On defense, Rieck and Tori Underwood both had 27 digs. Orth was part of three blocks and Hoeper and Brynn Lieders added two more each.
