By Greg Bates Leader Correspondent
When the WIAA playoff seedings were determined, the Shawano volleyball players were disappointed to find out they had received a No. 4 seed.
The Hawks had a solid regular season with a second-place finish in the tough Bay Conference.
“They were expecting a higher seed, so a 4 seed just makes us want to win even more and prove to all the other coaches what we’re capable of,” Shawano coach Breanna Young said.
Shawano showed in its playoff opener on Tuesday night that it means all business. The Hawks never trailed as No. 13-seeded Marinette didn’t threaten in a three-set victory, 25-11, 25-7, 25-13.
“Get a quick win, and then we’ll move on,” Shawano junior Rachel Reed said.
That’s exactly what Shawano did.
Senior Bayleigh Laabs provided the pregame speech to her teammates and tried to fire up the girls for postseason play.
“I was like, ‘Do one thing for our seniors and go after every ball, see how far we can get with this team,’” Laabs said. “We are a pretty decent team if everyone has a winning mindset.”
Young was able to use her entire bench throughout the match. That was twofold: getting all her players playing time, but also getting her starters some rest before the next playoff match.
“We’ve had a lot of people sick, so just kind of letting them rest before our bigger matches come,” Young said. “We want to make a good showing on those big matches, especially in the ones we have at home.”
In every set, Shawano jumped out to big leads. Playing fast and getting out to early leads is only going to help the Hawks as they move along in the postseason.
“It kind of like shows how we won’t fall down, how we won’t let up,” Laabs said. “We always want to keep pushing. Even if it is a slower game, we still keep our pace going and never let down.”
“We have to go out and play our best ball every time, set the tempo on our side of the net,” Young said. “We didn’t back down, and that’s one of the things we’ve been working on this season. So, for them to continue to stay in charge was nice to see.”
Shawano was up 11-1 in the opening set before Marinette made it 20-10 late, but the Hawks scored five of the last six points to pull away.
Julia Klement had a big second set with four of her six kills. Shawano built a 15-4 advantage after a spike by Avery Dreier. The Hawks finished out the set with ease.
With Shawano rotating out its starters to allow some of the younger, less experienced players to see the court, Marinette kept it close. The Hawks were up 9-6 and then rattled off five straight points as Marinette’s chances faded.
Tori DePerry had a team-leading seven kills and two blocks for Shawano. Laabs came through with 16 assists and tallied three of the Hawks’ eight team aces.
With the win, Shawano will next host No. 5-seeded Denmark on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Vikings disposed of No. 12-seeded Clintonville in the opening round, 25-10, 25-13, 25-17.
In order to stay hot, Shawano will need to continue doing what it’s been doing of late.
“As the games go on, they’re going to be harder and harder,” Laabs said. “So, we can’t say, ‘All these games are going to be just like this.’ We have to keep pushing and play even harder as we go.”
“We need to stay focused and we just need to be positive out on the court,” Reed said.
If Shawano beats Denmark and top-seeded Notre Dame wins, the Hawks will have a date with the Tritons in a regional championship on Saturday. Notre Dame ended Shawano’s season a year ago.