It was as good of a start as Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School head volleyball coach Chris Nier coach have asked for, as the Chargers jumped out to a 20-13 lead in the first game of a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal match.
The first game tilted in favor of the Chargers, but they could not sustain the momentum in their first sectional appearance, falling 25-21, 13-25, 18-25, 15-25 to Oshkosh Lourdes at Bay Port on Thursday night.
“I talked to the girls in advance, and we went back over everything we had in our scouting reports, and at the end, Abby Kapitz said, ‘We’ve got this coach,’” Chargers head coach Chris Nier said. “They didn’t appear nervous to me at all.”
At the beginning of each of the final three games, Wittenberg-Birnamwood fell behind, 0-6 in Game 2, 0-5 in Game 3 and 0-4 in Game 4.
“I think that first set, our girls just went into a little shock thinking we were going to see something that wasn’t there,” Lourdes Academy head coach Job Ellmann said. “I’m just thrilled they settled in and focused more on what we were doing rather than the opponent.”
With the Knights (44-7) in control of the game, they were able to serve to specific targets on the court to keep the Chargers off balance for the majority of the night.
“I actually told them to stop hyperventilating and take a deep breath and play relaxed and let the game come to them,” Ellmann said. “It looked like we were trying to force too much.”
The Chargers, who pulled within a point midway through the fourth game, seemed to fall apart with Lourdes Academy senior Ali Jaber at the service line. She rolled off eight consecutive points, despite two Wittenberg-Birnamwood timeouts, to extend the lead to 19-10.
Jaber finished the game with three aces, two of which came during that decisive stretch.
“I don’t know if they were intimidated or frustrated,” Chris Nier said. “I know they had a huge block on Taylor (Nier). They were triple blocking her. In my eyes, that’s a huge compliment. In Taylor’s eyes, that’s nothing but frustration because they are stopping her.”
Sam Yaeke recorded 25 kills on the night and added 10 assists to lead the Knights.
Categories
