GILMAN VOLLEYBALL - Pirates get points under pressure to win Eastern Cloverbelt opener

It didn’t have to be as hard as it became, but the young Gilman Pirates got pressure-packed points when they needed them and earned a five-set win over visiting Spencer Tuesday in the teams’ Eastern Cloverbelt Conference volleyball opener.

Late leads slipped out of Gilman’s control in sets one and three, giving the Rockets the chance to turn what easily could’ve been a sweep by the Pirates into their four-set win. Gilman, though, led game four wire-to-wire despite a late push from the Rockets and forced the decisive fifth game.

There, Gilman put itself into a quick 5-1 hole. The Pirates responded out of a timeout, getting a tip from Reece Weir, a Brynn Komanec kill and a Kylee Copenhaver ace to go up 6-5. From that point on, the teams were never separated by more than two points. Digs by Averie Olynick and Shae Drier eventually led to an Aubrey Mann kill that put Gilman up 9-8. Spencer scored three straight points out of a timeout to go up 11-9. Mann’s kill got Gilman going again as the Pirates tied it at 11, 12 and 13.

Weir’s tip kill put Gilman at match point at 14-13, but the Rockets got a kill from Olivia Schreiner. Copenhaver’s deep push found the floor and got Gilman back to match point at 15-14. Schreiner got another kill and Carmen Krause dug up Weir’s roll attempt and it fell on Gilman’s side to put the Rockets up 16-15.

Weir came back with a kill, as did Mann for a 17-16 Gilman lead. Weir’s hard serve was pushed into the net by the Rockets, ending it at 18-16.

“Starting out conference play with a win should definitely be a confidence booster for this team,” Gilman head coach Janice Komanec said. “Being able to push for the win in a close fifth set is encouraging and it was some good pressure for this team to feel.”

Gilman appeared in control of the first set when a five-point serving run by Komanec, highlighted by three big swings from Mann and an Addison Vick kill, opened up a 14-10 lead. The Pirates led until Spencer caught them at 23-23 and consecutive aces by Chloe Timm allowed the Rockets to steal the set at 25-23.

Komanec served Gilman up to a 5-0 lead in game two and Drier added an ace in another little run that made it 10-4. Aubrey Steinbach had an ace as the lead grew to 16-10. Komanec had a block and Averie Olynick had a kill late to seal a 2517 Gilman win that tied the match at 1-1.

Allison Olyninck, Drier and Steinbach had early aces in game three for an early 10-4 Gilman lead. The Pirates later led 1712 when a Schreiner kill and two Alexa Weber aces gave Spencer life. Komanec’s ace put Gilman up 22-19, but the Rockets then blocked Mann, tied it at 23-23 on Lydia Lau’s well-placed roll and then won it 25-23 after two Pirate errors.

The Pirates responded to that disappointment with a solid fourth game. Copenhaver served them out to a 5-0 lead and Mylie Stephens added an ace at 7-1. Copenhaver’s kill made it 12-5. Spencer came back with an 8-2 run to get within 14-13, but Gilman regained control with a block from Weir, A Copenhaver ace and Weir’s tip off a diving save by Steinbach. Stephens drilled an ace off the top of the net to make it 20-15. Averie Olynick’s push off a Drier assist and a Copenhaver kill helped finish off the 25-20 win that sent the match to game five.

Gilman is off until Tuesday when conference play begins in earnest. The Pirates head to Owen-Withee that night before hosting Neillsville on Sept. 25. Varsity matches start at 7:15 p.m.

Prentice 3, Gilman 0

The first two sets got away late and the third one got away from Gilman early Monday when the Pirates were swept 3-0 by host Prentice in the team’s third nonconference loss of the season to a team from the Marawood North.

Gilman had its chances in the first two sets but couldn’t keep momentum long enough at the back end of either one to hold off the Buccaneers, who improved to 10-5 and have always been tough on Gilman in best-of-five matches.

Save for a 10-9 lead on a Copenhaver ace, Gilman trailed throughout the first set, but the Pirates did dig out of a 16-11 hole to tie it at 20-20 when Brynn Komanec ended a good rally with a hard tip from the right sideline. But a Hannah Gladson kill, a Pirate error and Kayla Gillett’s easy putdown of a free ball in the middle pushed Prentice to a 23-20 lead. The Bucs then finished off the set at 25-20 on a bad serve receive from Gilman and a Madisyn Freeman ace.

Gilman’s best chance came in the second set. The Pirates jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 6-2. The Bucs tied it at 88, but Copenhaver’s tip and her ace, along with an Allison Olynick kill, keyed a 6-0 run that put Gilman up 14-8. Olynick’s kill made it 15-9 and she later got a block kill on Prentice’s standout freshman Leah Lord to make it 18-14.

But Prentice tightened it up after that, pulling even at 18-18. Mann hit two winners and Copenhaver got a tip over Prentice’s Lauren Geiger as Gilman got out to a 22-20 lead. Copenhaver powered a shot through a Prentice block to put Gilman up 23-22, but a crucial missed serve, a Gillett block kill against Weir and a Gladson kill gave Prentice a 25-23 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Norah Noonan’s kill gave Gilman a 2-1 lead early in the third set, but that was Gilman’s last lead. Prentice went on a 10-2 run to go up 11-4. The lead hit 21-10 before Gilman made a couple of small runs, but not enough to seriously threaten Prentice, who iced the match with a 25-16 win.

The Abbotsford Falcons spoiled Gilman’s home opener on Thursday, controlling the match in all phases and completing a 3-0 sweep.

Strong serving set the tone for Abbotsford, who served up several aces and got Gilman out of system at times. The Pirates weren’t able to consistently slow down the Falcons’ array of hitters, including Celia Schindler and Riley Podevels on the left side and Lauryn Harris and Marilyn Hammock in the middle, who all found holes in Gilman’s defense.

Abbotsford opened up game one with a short serving run by libero Caylee Clement that turned a 6-4 game into a 10-4 game. A later run stretched the lead to double digits at 22-12. A Hammock kill capped off the Falcons’ 25-14 win.

Schindler had two kills and two aces in a 7-2 Abbotsford run to start game two. Gilman got a kill from Allison Olynick and a tip from Weir to get the Pirates within 84 and they were still within 10-5 when Abbotsford pulled away during a serving run from Faith Sperl that included two aces. That made it 18-10 and the Falcons went on to close that set out at 25-15.

The Pirates showed some fight in the third set. Averie Olynick served an ace, Komanec’s shot found a hole deep in Abbotsford’s defense and Mann got a kill to put Gilman up 7-5. Mann’s second kill of the set gave the Pirates an 8-7 lead.

A Weir kill gave Gilman within 13-11 and a missed Falcon serve made it 16-13. Allison Olynick’s ace kept Gilman within striking distance at 21-17, but the Falcons scored the next four points to end the match at 25-17.