The Bonduel High School volleyball team advanced in the WIAA Division 3 regional Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of Crandon in Bonduel.
The Bears, the No. 4 seed, beat the fifth-seeded Cardinals by dominating the first game 25-16, winning a closer second game 25-18, and closing the door with a solid 25-11 win in the third game.
Bonduel will travel to No. 1 seed Coleman on Thursday.
“I think that it helped that we beat Oconto, who is the No. 2 seed in our regional, on Thursday,” Bonduel coach Kim Bodoh said. “It really gave the girls some serious momentum going into tonight’s regional. … I do feel like they are finally hitting their stride.”
That was evident in the first game of the match. Bonduel and Crandon were knotted at 9-9, but the Bears took command with a 13-3 run, partly due to solid serving by sophomore outside hitter Miranda Schmidt. The Bears won game point on a missed serve by Crandon’s Anike Suilamon.
“I would like to give some credit to our serving. Our team serves extremely well,” Bodoh said. “They place their serves well, they hit the ball well, they really think about what they are doing. Also, our girls weren’t sending over as many free balls during that first game when we would make those runs, really making sure they were attacking everything that came their way.”
The second game was closer, as the Bears’ tendency to not put teams away popped up.
“All season long it seems that our girls play on a roller coaster,” Bodoh said. “We have a young team who is still a bit inconsistent and has been throughout this season. The second game is kind of what we’ve been dealing with all season, but they were able to pull it out.”
The teams tied at 12-12 and Bonduel held a slim 19-18 lead before going on a 6-0 run to close out the game.
“I give credit to Crandon. They’re a tough team,” Bodoh said. “Coming out of our conference, it’s harder than their conference, but they played us tough.”
Bonduel took a quick 12-6 lead in the third game and led 20-10 before going on a 5-1 run to close the match.
Setter Courtney Schmidt, one of two seniors, along with Samantha Bahr, possibly playing their last match on the home court, led the team with 12 assists. Sophomore middle hitter Jennifer Dowden had 11 kills, five blocks and 15 digs. Alexa Reinke had two aces.
“I felt more like we’re hitting on all cylinders,” Bodoh said. “Our left side has been hitting well, our middle has been hitting well, our right side has been hitting well. I think this is the best that they have done that all season long. We’re hoping that we can carry that into Thursday night’s matchup.”
Bodoh knows Coleman will be a tough opponent but is confident her girls can get the win.
“(Coleman is) a very tough team, a very aggressive team with strong hitters,” Bodoh said. “If our girls pass well, I think we can get a win against Coleman and head to the regional finals.”
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