Once the Shawano Community High School girls volleyball team settled in Thursday, it cruised to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Green Bay West.
The Hawks fell behind early in the first game 4-7, but then outscored the Wildcats 21-8 to finish out the 25-15 victory.
SCHS continued playing well, scoring 25-12 and 25-18 victories in the second and third games, respectively.
“I think it took a little bit to get in a groove,” SCHS head coach Jessica Cumberland said. “Once we got into the groove, though, we were fine.”
Senior middle hitter Erika Dunnam earned several kills from the back row to push the momentum in favor of the Hawks.
The Wildcats, who were missing one of their middle hitters, were not quite prepared for the strong attacks from Dunnam, who tallied 16 kills on the night.
“We started to lose focus when there were a few back-row attacks,” Green Bay West head coach Heather Vande Walle said. “We weren’t moving our feet as much as we could have been.”
When Dunnam finally reached a familiar spot at the net, sophomore Brandi Gueths’ serves but the pressure on the visiting Wildcats, which led to a three-point run in the first game to give SCHS the lead, and another three-point run in the second for the Hawks to gain control.
They never looked back.
“We play well when we are working hard and having fun and not letting the frustrations get the best of us,” Cumberland said. “We were coming together, having fun and putting the ball away.”
Beginning in the second game and continuing for the third, Cumberland was also able to show off some of the depth on her bench.
Bayleigh Laabs, Meagan Ward and Brooke Huntington all got valuable playing time.
“I was excited to put them in. It let me see their strengths and let me see them under pressure in the work of the game,” Cumberland said. “And I was able to put them in some spots that they were not familiar with, so that was good. It helped me build confidence in them.”
Despite the Hawks (20-9, 3-1 Bay Conference) having complete control in the third game, Green Bay West pulled within four points at four different times and got the game as close as 21-18 before Shawano put the game away by winning the next four points.
“We still came back and made some adjustments where we needed to make adjustments,” Vande Walle said.
The adjustments were not enough for the Wildcats (0-8, 0-4 Bay), who were led by junior Sarah Snyder’s five digs and three assists.
For the Hawks, Miranda Washinawatok had eight kills and two blocks. Senior setter Annelies Young had 23 assists, and fellow senior Kate Senzig added two aces.
“They were just able to play to their level of ability tonight, and that’s what I wanted to see,” Cumberland said. “They didn’t crawl into a hole and back down. They kept pushing forward.”
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