Two ECC wins give Pirates chance to grab 2nd
GILMAN VOLLEYBALL
While first place in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference is likely out of reach, the Gilman Pirates have won three straight league volleyball matches since their opening loss to unbeaten Columbus Catholic and have given themselves a clear shot at second place.
A win at home tonight, Thursday, over Neillsville would give Gilman that clear path to second with matches remaining next week at home against Loyal Tuesday and at Greenwood Oct. 7. Gilman and Neillsville are both 3-1 in league play heading into tonight’s matchup.
Gilman got to 3-1 with wins at Owen Withee Tuesday and at home over Spencer on Thursday.
In Tuesday’s four-set win over the Blackhawks, the Pirates took the first two sets 25-17 and 25-21.
“We were down a few points in set one and set two against Owen Withee,” head coach Janice Komanec said. “I’m proud of the girls for battling back. In set two, we were actually down 16-20 and came back and won 2521. I’m proud of the girls for pushing ahead and out scoring them 9-1. They were disciplined and did some strong things in that run. We had some strong passing, solid sets and some aggressive attacks. That’s exactly what we’re striving for, but we just need to find the consistency to be doing that at all times in all games.”
Owen-Withee extended the match by surviving in a close third game 26-24. But Gilman finished things off in game four 25-22 to earn its third win of the season over Owen-Withee and second in four days as the teams also met in the Medford Invitational.
Gracie Tallier led Gilman’s serving efforts with six aces. Kya Dietzler had five, Ellie Drier had four and Abby Chaplinski, Kayleigh James and Emma Grunseth had three apiece. Tallier had 13 kills, Tatum Weir had 10, Grunseth had eight and Ava Gunderson had four. Chaplinski had 35 assists.
Drier led the Pirates with 26 digs in the match. Tallier had 13 and Chaplinski had 11.
Gilman 3, Spencer 0
The Pirates earned their second conference win of the fall Thursday with a 3-0 sweep over visiting Spencer.
Gilman controlled the first and third games and fought off a spirited push by Spencer in the second game to complete the sweep in an effort Komanec felt was improved over the one Gilman put together two nights earlier in a 3-2 win over Colby.
“I’m glad for the win, glad that they pushed to get it in three,” she said. “Our serving was stronger tonight. (Spencer) struggled on serve receive in general but we missed a lot of serves on Tuesday so it was good to see our serving was more consistent tonight.”
The Pirates also had a strong night at the net, getting several blocks and touches on the defensive side. Grunseth and Hannah Vick were credited with two solo blocks each. Weir and Gunderson had one each. Tallier and Drier had 15 and 13 digs. Dietzler had eight.
“Our blocking has not been disciplined,” Komanec said. “Our rights and our lefts aren’t always ready to go up on that middle block and our defense is set up for that. We worked on that (Wednesday) night. We worked on right side and our left sides making sure to be in on that middle block. We don’t just go with a set rule that this is when we double block. I trust them to make their best decisions, read that set. It was much better tonight.”
Gilman surged out to a double-digit lead in the first set at 19-9 and finished off the 25-16 opener with two winners each from Grunseth and Tallier.
Game two was tied 9-9 when Gilman created some separation. Tallier deflected a shot off a block to break the tie, Weir got a kill and an easy tip and Dietzler served three aces in four attempts at the end of the 7-0 run that made it 16-9.
The Rockets got back into it thanks to an ace from Heavyn Kind, a tip from Jorie Meyer, two aces from Meyer, a Mallori Barth kill and an ace off the net from Alexa Stange, making it 22-20. The Rockets got within 24-23 but a missed serve sealed Gilman’s 25-23 win.
“After the first set, we talked about how they gave us points and we’ll take them, but we can’t be giving any back,” Komanec said. “We have to be earning everything. They got better each game. They got more consistent. They had a lot of hitting errors in the first set, but they started hitting more consistently.”
Game three was tied 3-3 early when Gilman went ahead for good with Ava Gunderson and Weir getting points at the net and Grunseth and Chaplinski serving aces in an 11-1 run that made it 14-4. Spencer got no closer than eight the rest of the way. Match point at 25-11 came on an outstanding rally that featured several saves by both teams before Kind’s push attempt carried too far and went out of bounds.
Grunseth led the Pirates with eight kills. Weir and Tallier had six apiece. Chaplinski had 24 assists.
The Monday Men’s Senior League at Medford Tee-Hi Golf Course has completed its competition for the 2021 Sports Page Cup. League president Orin Wegerer (l. to r.) recognized Pat Clough as this year’s champion, Frank Werner the runner-up and Mert Vaughn the third-place finisher.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
