Jacy Zollar, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Photo by Jody Ward Shawano Community High School senior Brandi Gueths attacks the ball during Monday’s win over Bonduel.
Photo by Jody Ward Bonduel High School junior Grace Petcka attacks the ball during Monday’s loss to Shawano.
Shawano continues to reign at home after sweeping Bonduel during Monday’s “Win the Battle” pink match.
The Hawks edged Bonduel 25-16, 25-17 and 25-18 after a slow start.
The Bears tallied a quick five points to open the first set and forced Shawano head coach Breanna Young to call a timeout.
“This is our house,” Young told her girls. “We need to change our mental game and play the game we know how to play.”
Bonduel errors gave the Hawks a chance to gain the momentum. After a Tori DePerry attack tied the score 14-14, Shawano took the lead for the first time and kept it through the rest of the set.
The Hawks (20-6, 2-1 Bay Conference) held a four-point lead in Set 2 before Bonduel rallied with a Grace Petcka tip, two kills and a Hawks service error to even the score 12-12. Shawano responded and Averi Vomastic ended the game with a kill.
In Set 3, a three-point rally by Shawano gave the Hawks a 10-7 lead. Bonduel (10-13, 2-2 Central Wisconsin Conference) answered with two kills, but Shawano’s Brandi Gueths scored on a tip that prevented the Bears from evening the score. The Hawks kept the lead the rest of the way to complete the sweep.
Vomastic led the Hawks with 11 kills and six aces. Julia Klement followed with five kills and seven digs. Abi Vomastic and Rachel Reed each tallied three kills, and Bayleigh Laabs recorded two aces, two block kills, seven digs and 20 assists.
Bonduel’s Althea Berry tallied 19 digs followed by Mckenzie Wollenberg and Megan Eitler each with 13. Wollenberg also had six kills, and Petcka followed with five. Brynn Reinke recorded 16 assists.
Outside of the nonconference match, the night held a deeper meaning for the neighboring schools. The Hawks and Bears teamed up to raise $1,200 to be donated to a local family fighting cancer.
“With the theme tonight (for breast cancer awareness), it’s something my girls take very seriously,” Bonduel head coach Kim Strayer said. “And these two teams are so close. Everyone — players and fans — knows people from the other school, so they’re facing their friends or family. So the girls’ atmosphere and attitude going into the game was just really positive.
“I think that fueled them to start out strong, because it can otherwise be intimidating to go up against such a big school like Shawano. We have a younger team, so I’m proud of how they were able to keep up their energy throughout and play a competitive match against a tough team.”