Oconto Falls wins Shawano Volleyball Invitational

The Oconto Falls High School volleyball team earned a first-place finish after posting a 5-0 record at the Shawano Invitational on Sept. 10 in Shawano.

Oconto Falls opened the day with pool play wins over Pulaski, Wausau West and Clintonville before toppling Shawano and then Wausau West a second time in the championship match.

Shawano ended up placing third at its home tournament. The Hawks defeated Brillion and Oconto, while losing to Peshtigo in pool play. After its loss to Oconto Falls, Shawano bounced back with a win over Peshtigo to end the day.

Pulaski battled all day but finished with just one win against Oconto. The Red Raiders lost tight matches to Oconto Falls, Clintonville, Wausau West and Brillion.

Oconto Falls

The Panthers impressive showing began with a gritty 29-27, 25-23 win over Pulaski.

Amber Otto led Oconto Falls with nine attack kills, while Brailyn St. Louis had seven.

Madison Uelmen served three aces, Kyndra Staidl tallied 14 digs and Hanna Krejcarek had 11 assists. Morgan Moynihan chipped in seven assists, while Uelmen had seven digs.

Oconto Falls then rallied for a win over Wausau West, with scores of 22-25, 26-24, 15-10.

Otto again led the Panthers in attack kills with 11, while also tallying nine digs. St. Louis had seven attack kills, while Morgan Kluth had six and Keira Cole five.

Staidl tallied a team-leading 19 digs. Krejcarek recorded 10 digs and 16 assists, Uelmen had eight digs and Moynihan posted nine assists.

“As a team we worked really hard the last week in practice on being mentally strong to finish tight or come back in games,” said Krejcarek. “This was really the reason we pulled today out and we did it by cheering over everything we did well and picking each other up. We killed it with our blocking and putting the ball away when we needed and our DSs (defensive specialists) had great pickups all day.”

Oconto Falls capped pool play with a 25-17, 25-23 win over Clintonville.

This time, Otto led the team with 10 attack kills and 10 digs. Krejcarek added 12 assists and seven digs.

Staidl also had seven digs, while Uelmen recorded six. Staidl and Moynihan were credited with five assists each. Kluth chipped in four attack kills.

In a 25-20, 25-23 win over Shawano, Oconto Falls used a balanced attack to emerge victorious.

Otto had six kills to pace the Panthers. Kluth, Grace Molitor, St. Louis and Tess Maggio all contributed three kills.

“I think our team brought a lot of energy, and even if points weren’t going our way we continued playing with high energy,” said Staidl. “Volleyball is all about staying up and staying positive.”

In its rematch with Wausau West, Oconto Falls won 25-20, 25-20 to claim the invitational title.

St. Louis led the team with eight attack kills, while Otto had six and Kluth five. Staidl served four aces, with Otto serving three.

Molitor was credited with four total blocks in the contest for Oconto Falls. Krejcarek and Moynihan set up the team’s attackers, finishing with 10 and nine assists, respectively. Staidl posted a team-leading nine digs, while Uelmen and Krejcarek had seven each and Otto six.

“After topping some good teams and the momentum we finished the day off with will help guide us throughout our season,” said Krejcarek. “The first-place finish to our team was just proof all of our work a dedication the past weeks and summer is paying off.”

“I’d say that our team was pretty confident going into today’s tournament, but winning today helped give us more confidence going into our season,” said Staidl. “Lastly the first-place win today really shows how going to all the practices, open gyms, and putting in the time pays off for our program.”

Shawano

Shawano opened its day with a 25-21, 25-19 win over Brillion.

Abby Wachtel led the team with seven kills, while Alix Heath tallied 12 assists. Sami Richter recorded six digs, Coral Cook served three aces and Leah Nordin was credited with a pair of blocks.

Shawano then topped Oconto 25-15, 25-19.

This time it was Abby Bystol leading the team with five kills. Cook finished with eight digs, two aces and a block, while Heath had 11 assists and two aces.

The Hawks took the first set against Peshtigo, but then dropped the next two sets, with scores of 16-25, 25-23, 15-10.

Bystol again led the team with seven kills, while Nordin had two more blocks. Heath recorded 14 assists, with Richter tallying four aces and 11 digs.

“I think we came out strong right away in the morning to get the first two wins against Brillion and Oconto. The third match against Peshtigo did not go as planned,” said Bystol. “We started off slow and playing down to their level. They took advantage of that and beat us in the third game.”

Shawano then lost 25-20, 25-23 to Oconto Falls.

Nordin finished the match with six blocks, while Bystol had five kills. Richter was credited with 17 digs, and Heath assisted on eight points.

The Hawks ended their day on a positive note with a revenge win over Peshtigo. Shawano cruised to a 25-22, 25-12 win.

Heath served seven aces and also had nine assists

Bystol and Nordin tallied four kills each, with Nordin also posting two blocks. Richter finished with nine digs.

Shawano was pleased with its play on the day, but knows there’s also some room for improvement.

“I think the team learned that it’s really important to execute at the right time,” said Bystol. “We had a lot of situations where we had gotten the ball back just for the server to miss their serve.

“I will say that our team is not one to get down on themselves though. Even after a loss we always come out more energetic than the last match.”

Pulaski

Pulaski’s day was full of tight matchups and it all started with its 29-27, 25-23 loss to Oconto Falls.

Lauren Kellner recorded five attack kills for Pulaski in the match, with Emily Bruss and Emma Quinnell with four each. Bruss also finished with 12 assists, six digs and two aces. Quinnell led the team with two blocks.

Hailey Wiedeman led the team with 16 digs, with Ashton Birr chipping in seven assists.

The Red Raiders then fell 25-23, 18-25, 15-11 to Clintonville.

Bruss, Kellner and Gianna Logue all recorded four attack kills in the match, with Bruss and Birr serving four aces each. Logue also tallied two blocks.

Birr led the Red Raiders with nine digs, while Bruss and Wiedeman had six each. Bruss and Alyssa Spates tallied eight and seven assists, respectively.

A part of the reason Pulaski struggled to finish off matches on the day was because the team was shuffling its lineup to deal with injuries. Bruss said the team did well in adjusting on the fly.

“Since some of our starters were hurt, we had to change up positions and I feel that our team stepped up into their roles,” said Bruss. “We are a younger team, so in this regard, I feel that our younger players are getting good experience, which will help their confidence for future games.

“Our team can definitely work on showing more energy when we have big plays. At times that energy was lacking from all aspects of the game, which made us come up short in matches.”

Pulaski wrapped up pool play with another three-set match, losing 26-24, 25-27, 15-4 to Wausau West.

Kellner had a strong match and capped it with nine attack kills. Logue added six attack kills and three total blocks.

Bruss posted 18 assists and five digs for the Red Raiders, while Wiedeman again led the team in digs with 10.

Pulaski next played Brillion, falling 25-18, 27-25.

This time, Logue led the team with 11 attack kills and three total blocks. Wiedeman finished with 12 digs, while Bruss had 13 assists. Mia Kraft chipped in five digs.

Pulaski got some positive vibes going to end the day after toppling Oconto 25-21, 25-18.

Bruss tallied 18 assists and two aces for Pulaski, with Logue again leading the team’s attackers with eight kills. Kraft had a team-leading four digs.

“Today, we did face a lot of competitive teams but having good competition in the beginning of the season only gets us more ready for conference play,” said Bruss. “In playing competitive teams today, I am hoping that our team moves forward and continues to build as players every day.”

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