Pirates struggle mightily, see season end in surprise sweep

WIAA DIV. 4 VOLLEYBALL

Coming into the WIAA Division 4 volleyball tournament having won seven of their last 11 matches, the Gilman Pirates seemed ready to take their best shot against whoever they faced in regional week.

But sometimes in sports, there is no explanation for when or why the wheels just fall off.

The Pirates and head coach Janice Komanec were left with few words Tuesday after they were swept at home by the 10th-seeded Frederic Vikings in the opening round of regional play.

The loss ended Gilman’s season at 1214 overall and with that always-difficult feeling of knowing they didn’t go out playing their best volleyball.

Frederic, who finished 3-7 in the West Lakeland Conference and came in 10-10 overall, won the first set 25-21 and then took complete command of the match with a 25-9 win in game two.

Gilman made a run at the Vikings in game three, but still came up short 25-20.

Komanec said the Pirates’ troubles simply started with an unexplainable inability to keep the ball in play. The Pirates had 31 hitting and serving errors alone. She said Gilman also couldn’t find consistency in receiving serves and passing and had occasional communication breakdowns.

In between the miscues, Gracie Tallier put down a team-high eight kills, while Ava Gunderson and Tatum Weir had six apiece and Emma Grunseth added four. Abby Chaplinski set up the hitters with 21 assists. Kya Dietzler had three service aces and Kayleigh James added two.

Ellie Drier led Gilman with 13 digs. Dietzler had eight, James had six, Tallier had five and Chaplinski had four.

While the Pirates can be excited about the future with four current juniors and five freshmen who saw varsity action this year all slated to return. They do, however, say goodbye to four signifi- cant senior contributors in Gunderson, Grunseth, Hannah Vick and Dietzler.

Frederic advanced to a regional semifi nal match tonight, Thursday, at secondseeded Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran.

It was a tough opening night for the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, whose only winner was Neillsville in Division 3 play. Columbus Catholic got a bye in Division 4 and will host Wisconsin Valley Lutheran tonight in a regional semifinal.