By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
The lady Hatchets defeated Rhinelander on Tuesday in a veritable back-and-forth match that went to five sets. At 2-2 going into the fifth set, the Hodags pulled ahead at 7-2, but a 10-point streak helped bring the Hatchets back up to take the fifth set for the win.
Rhinelander won 25-23 in a close first set but then Tomahawk won the second set 25-18. Rhinelander came back in the third, 25-17 but Tomahawk answered back in the fourth with another close 25-23 set.
“[We] Finally got another win!” comments head coach Paul Zierten. “I was very proud of our girls’ effort and mental toughness to stay in the match. We still have plenty to work on but it’s good to see the girls applying what we have been working on at practice. We looked smarter last night reading their swings and we didn’t let tips kill us like usual. As the scores show, it was a very back and forth game with us having some big moments where we mounted comebacks.
“Being down 2-7 in the fifth set and then getting 10 points in a row was something I never thought we could do… I thought it was a sign of the apocalypse. Hope Wissbroecker showed why she’s one of the best in conference ending any runs we had quickly while she was in the front row. I thought we did pretty good getting blocks up on her and reading her roll shots; however, if their was only a single blocker you could bet she was getting a kill.
“I was impressed with Maggie Latzig’s defense because she read a lot of balls before the swings even happened and she read them right. Beth Bunce did a nice job spreading the ball around evenly and our whole team rallied behind each other even in the tough times. It’s a great win going into the GNC tournament this Saturday.”