The Shawano Community High School volleyball team advanced to the WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal Tuesday after beating No. 5 Clintonville 3-1.
The Hawks next will play at No. 1 Green Bay Notre Dame (32-5, 10-1 Fox River Classic Conference) on Thursday.
For No. 4 Shawano (14-15, 2-7 Bay Conference), getting past the Truckers (9-21, 2-6 Eastern Valley) was anything but easy.
“Clintonville brought it tonight,” Shawano coach Jessica Cumberland said. “It was a fight to the end. I really reinforced that were coming in as a team, and we’re leaving as a team.
It appeared the Hawks would roll in the first set, jumping out to a 11-4 lead before winning, 25-16.
Clintonville upped the pressure in the second game, going up 8-4, and maintaining a small lead until Shawano rallied to tie it at 22-22. The Truckers went on to win 25-23.
“Our girls came out and played well,” Clintonville coach Lance Bagstad said.
The third game stayed whisker-close throughout. Clintonville appeared to have control, up 24-22, but Ericka Dunnam, a junior middle hitter, hit a spike to tie it for Shawano.
“Their big hitter in the middle, running quicks like they run, we just didn’t defense that well,” Bagstad said. “Especially the first set. In the last three sets I thought we defensed it a little better.”
The Hawks took the lead when Clintonville was called for a double-hit. Dunnam then hit the game-winner to give Shawano a 2-1 lead.
Neither team took more than a three-point lead in the fourth game until Shawano scored the final four points of the match to win 25-20.
“We struggled at the service line tonight,” Bagstad said. “We haven’t struggled with that all year. Where that came from tonight, I’m not sure.”
Dunnam finished with 17 kills, six blocks and 11 digs. Senior Tori Wiskow had 10 kills, six blocks. Junior setter Annelies Young had 32 assists. Senior Courtney Vomastic had five kills and six digs.
No statistics were available from Clintonville.
“I don’t really have a lot to say about Notre Dame,” Cumberland said. “I know that we’re going to have to step it up a notch. Our girls are ready to bring it. We’re going to do what we need to do, fight until the end. We’re going to play ball.”
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