The Oconto Falls High School volleyball team wasn’t at the top of its game against Denmark. However, it didn’t matter.
The Panthers showed they were the superior squad, winning three tight sets and sweeping the Vikings 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 in a Bay Conference match Thursday in Oconto Falls.
The Panthers (2-0 Bay Conference) built leads of at least six points in all three sets before Denmark clawed back to make it interesting.
“You’re going to have matches like this,” Oconto Falls coach Dawn Larsen said. “This is really our first home match with all the fans here, so maybe a little jitters. Overall, you have to be happy with the win.”
When the Panthers got into a bind, they turned to their two big hitters, McKenna Larsen and Carly Lemke. The two seniors combined for 37 kills, with Larsen tallying 18 kills, 21 assists and 15 digs. Lemke added four blocks and sophomore Alyssa Nelson tallied 12 digs.
“I think we could have played a lot better as a team,” Lemke said. “This was definitely not one of our best games. … We struggled with just the small things like serving.”
Oconto Falls had six service errors in Game 1, but still jumped out to a 16-9 advantage after running off three straight points. Denmark, which has a very young team with just one senior and five juniors, pulled to within three, 22-19, but the Panthers shut the door as Nelson pounded a kill to close out the first game, 25-19.
In Game 2, Oconto Falls trailed early, but took command with a 14-8 lead. Denmark attempted a comeback and registered the seventh tie of the game at 23-all. The Panthers again came on late and scored the last two points.
Denmark took a 10-9 lead in the third game before Oconto Falls scored nine out of the next 10 points to surge ahead, 18-11.
Even though the Oconto Falls players were not entirely in sync during the match, coach Larsen thought her team did well during free-ball situations.
“We had some unbelievable hits that hit the ground that they didn’t even touch or slow down,” Larsen said. “I think when we needed to serve well, we did serve well.”
Lemke was happy her team came up big late to close out games.
“It’s great to know that we didn’t play our best that we still beat a team in three,” Lemke said. “We just have to keep working toward getting our perfect game in.”
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