Chris Caporale sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel libero Althea Berry earns one of her 10 digs during Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal victory over Laona/Wabeno.
Playing just one match in the past 12 days gave Bonduel volleyball head coach Kim Strayer the chance to emphasize and work on defense in practice, and it paid off in Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal victory, over Laona/Wabeno, 25-14, 25-11, 20-25, 25-21.
In both serve receive and defense, the Bears were able to keep their offense in system behind setter Brynn Reinke.
Reinke got all of her hitters involved in the offense allowing for Kaitlyn Bohr (11), Kailee Pedersen (11) and Emily Sorenson (10) to all post double-digit kills as the Bears advanced to face Oconto in Saturday’s home regional final match.
“Pretty much this week, what we worked on was passing, passing, passing. I tried to emphasize that we can’t do any of the other things if we can’t pass the ball,” Strayer said. “I was so impressed with that. I was so impressed with their scrappiness and their quickness on defense.”
Sorenson started off the fourth set with two kills and three aces as Bonduel jumped out to a 12-2 lead. The Rebels would work their way back into the game, cutting the deficit all the way down to two points at 23-21. Bohr and Pedersen finished the game out with kills.
The teams were not completely unfamiliar with each other, as they had faced off in the Bonduel Invite back in August. The Bears (14-17, 5-5 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) topped the Rebels (13-14, 9-5 Northern Lakes) 2-1 in the best-of-three match.
“We knew as long as we brought our game, we’d be able to beat them,” Boor said. “We just had to play tough at the net and good defense in the back row, and the rest would take care of itself. We gave it a good fight. We just didn’t have our game tonight.”
Bohr stepped up to have one of her strongest offensive games, which kept the visiting Rebels from reading where Reinke would set the ball next.
“I think anytime that we have four threats on offense, that it really makes the other team off their game and uneasy because they are unsure of how to play their defense,” Strayer said.
The Bears cruised through sets one and two, 25-14 and 25-11, finding holes in the the Laona-Wabeno defense, which was led by senior libero Allison Bartels.
Bartels was slowed down with a knee injury in the third game with the Bears ahead 8-3. She remained in the game, but struggled to move efficiently.
“She is all my backrow,” Rebels head coach Michelle Boor said of her libero. “She’s the heart of the back row, and she’s team captain for a reason.”
Laona/Wabeno rattled off six straight points to take a lead at 11-10, and then six more points later for a 18-12 lead. Bonduel worked its way back into the game, but could not overcome the late deficit, falling 25-20.
Bonduel will get a chance to secure a WIAA Division 3 regional title on its home court Saturday night in a rematch with Oconto. The Blue Devils swept the Bears last week.