Pirates give top-ranked Athens a battle in 3-1 non-conference loss

GILMAN VOLLEYBALL

The Gilman Pirates twice were one point away from sending Thursday’s volleyball match with top-ranked Athens to a fifth set but couldn’t quite close out game four and allowed the Blue Jays to get out of town with a 3-1 win.

Athens has carried the number-one ranking in the state’s first two Division 4 weekly rankings but Gilman had stretches where it gave the Blue Jays all they could handle, particularly in games two and four.

The Pirates got off to a slow start and were outplayed in game one, which Athens won 25-13. But they dug in to start game two, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and building some confidence. Athens got within one, but Gilman surged ahead again, getting a roll shot from Gracie Tallier, a block from Tshiya Keepers, a wellplaced quick dump from Abby Chaplinski and a Tallier attack that rolled over the net and fell for a 14-10 lead.

The lead grew during a serving run from Danielle Mann. That run included a block kill from Tatum Weir and nice dig from Mann that resulted in another dump point for Chaplinski. Tallier bump deflected off the net and was misplayed by Athens for a 22-12 lead.

The Blue Jays made a little 5-0 run to close within 22-17, but Gilman got three straight points to win 25-17 and even the match at a game apiece.

Athens regained control in the third set, building a 20-10 lead. Though that lead was too much for Gilman to come back from in a 25-17 loss, some strong defensive play and winners at the net from Tallier, Weir and Keepers built momentum for game four.

Gilman trailed 8-6 after Keepers was rejected at the net by Sy’Rih Hartwig, but tied the set at 9-9 and again at 13-13 on a long rally that ended on an errant push by the Jays. Athens carried a tip by Chaplinski, putting Gilman in front. A Mann ace was part of a mini run that put Gilman up 17-14. Tallier’s kill and another Athens error opened up a 19-15 lead. But the Blue Jays fought their way back to knot the set at 20-20 and from there the teams battled battle and forth.

Athens went up 22-20 off a Hartwig tip and an Addison Lavicka attack the Pirates couldn’t control. Tallier responded by burying a shot into an attempted block and an Athens error tied it.

Lavicka got a kill off a scramble, but Keepers responded with a huge block to tie it at 23-23. An error put Gilman at game point, but the teams then traded three straight missed serves, tying it at 25-25. Athens libero Savannah Epping served an ace and an attack from Gilman’s Bryn Hendricks sailed about 2 inches too far, ending the game at 27-25 and the match.

Tallier and Weir led Gilman with 14 kills apiece. Claire Drier had six, Chaplinski had five and Hendricks added four. Chaplinski had 34 set assists.

Tallier led Gilman with 28 digs, while Ellie Drier had 25 and Kenlyn Kroeplin had 14. Weir had three block kills while Keepers and Chaplinski had two each.

Athens improved to 13-2 at the time and got another big win Tuesday, sweeping Phillips to open Marawood North play.

Gilman, now 4-3 with losses to topranked Athens, third-ranked Prentice and fifth-ranked Mercer, has another non-conference match with a Marawood North team tonight, Thursday, at Abbotsford. The Pirates open Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play Tuesday at Colby before hosting Prentice on Sept. 15.