The Shawano Community High School girls volleyball team looked like it was on pace to roll to a smooth four-set victory over host West De Pere on Tuesday night to clinch third place in the Bay Conference.
Leading 16-10 in the fourth game, the Hawks then lost control of the match, leading to a 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-11 defeat.
“The momentum kept shifting back and forth,” SCHS head coach Jessica Cumberland said. “We needed to keep the momentum, and we lost it.”
The Phantoms’ Maddy Reed began serving with the Hawks (21-11, 4-3 Bay) leading by four, 17-13. The senior defensive specialist served 12 consecutive points to finish out the game and send the Phantoms (14-20, 5-2 Bay) into the final set with momentum.
“She is a very strong server. She is my No. 1 server,” West De Pere head coach Andrea Mayer said. “She always starts serving games. She had some trouble these last couple of matches, but they are hard, deep float serves. They usually land right at that line or right outside that line, so it’s hard to cover.”
From there, the Phantoms jumped out to an early lead in the decisive fifth set and never looked back.
“That’s the first time I’ve had to see them fight that hard and be that excited on the court, so that was really cool,” Mayer said.
“And Shawano put up a good fight,” she continued. “(Annelies Young), she is amazing, just running after every single ball, and props for her to run out five games. That was amazing.”
Young, the senior setter for the Hawks was all over the court, tallying 28 assists on the night. Senior middle hitter Erika Dunnam recorded 24 kills and 13 digs.
Senior defensive specialist Lexi Dobberstein added 10 digs, and Miranda Washinawatok finished with three blocks for the Hawks, who begin WIAA Division 2 regional play on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to go back to practice tomorrow, tweak some things, work on some things and move on,” Cumberland said.
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