The Bonduel Bears, who are notorious for slow starts, took a while to get going at their girls volleyball invitational Tuesday night.
In the end, it made them observers, rooting for the underdog, Suring, in the final match of the night to push them into first place.
Omro pulled through, though, to win the Bonduel Invitational championship, defeating Suring 15-13 in the final set. Omro finished 8-2 in the tourney; Bonduel finished 7-2.
“We didn’t realize that was the determining match, so we didn’t have that idea,” Suring head coach Tonia Kruschke said. “I think that down the stretch, we need to play when it’s hot and we’re tired and want to go home.”
Bonduel dropped the opening match of the invitational to Omro in three sets before bouncing back and defeating Laona-Wabeno in straight sets, 25-23, 25-21.
Once the Bears started attacking, the matches began to turn in their favor. The offense began to click during the first game against the Lobos.
“I have strong hitters, and then it seems that when they are down by a few points or when they are not communicating and starting to get nervous, they tip the ball over a lot more instead of attacking it,” Bonduel head coach Kimberly Bodoh said. “I keep reminding them that our strength is in our attacking. That’s where our team is going to beat other teams.”
After falling behind early in the second game, Bonduel stepped up its offense against Laona-Wabeno.
The Bears cut the lead to four at 13-9 before tying the game at 17 and eventually taking the lead for good at 19-18.
Bonduel went on to defeat Suring and Waupaca in straight sets in the third and fourth matches of the night.
“We dominated the other three teams in our own invite,” Bodoh said.
Senior middle hitter Hayley Pues came through when she was needed, tallying 17 kills on the night and seven service aces.
She racked up three consecutive aces against Waupaca to turn a close game into a comfortable victory.
“She is a lot more confident in herself and you can just tell that from her play,” Bodoh said.
Bodoh, who liked the way her team played overall on the night, stated that consistency, as always, will be what makes or breaks her team.
“They just need to start out playing their best game as soon as the first whistle blows and carry that consistent play all the way through,” Bodoh said.
Bonduel Invitational
Sept. 1
Team results: Omro 8-2; Bonduel 7-2; Laona-Wabeno 4-5; Suring 3-8; Waupaca 2-7.
Omro 2, Bonduel 1 (25-21, 10-25, 15-9)
Laona-Wabeno 2, Suring 1 (25-15, 21-25, 15-9)
Bonduel 2, Laona-Wabeno 0 (25-23, 25-21)
Omro 2, Waupaca 0 (25-21, 25-11)
Waupaca 2, Suring 1 (25-20, 25-22, 15-10)
Bonduel 2, Suring 0 (25-18, 25-20)
Omro 2, Laona-Wabeno 0 (25-18, 25-21)
Laona-Wabeno 2, Waupaca 0 (25-21, 25-22)
Bonduel 2, Waupaca 0 (25-17, 25-20)
Omro 2, Suring 1 (25-22, 23-25, 15-13)
B: Taylor Weier, 21 kills; Miranda Schmidt, 40 assists; Danee Collier, 29 digs; Hayley Pues, seven service aces.
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