MALCOLM -- The high school volleyball careers of seven Wahoo Neumann seniors appeared to be nearing an end Tuesday night.
Wahoo won the first two games of the Class C1-5 subdistrict championship match, including a 10-point win in the second set thanks to an 18-4 game-ending run.
But the Cavaliers rallied, dominating games three and four, to advance to Friday night’s district title match against Wisner-Pilger with a 20-25, 15-25, 25-15, 25-14, 15-9 victory before an estimated 400 fans at Malcolm High School.
“The seniors took over,” said Neumann coach Shelley Hagemann. “They talked in the huddle and said ‘we’re going to do this.’ They figured it out.”
Senior setter Toni Rada, who led Neumann with 24 assists and four ace serves, said the Cavaliers (22-6) did not panic after losing games one and two.
“We all knew we can play better,” Rada said. “As soon as we get excited, it goes uphill from there. The first two sets we played as individuals. In the end, we came together as a team.”
Wahoo (22-10) used a 7-0 run to build a 16-9 lead in game one behind three kills from junior Kylie Krecklow. Neumann answered with its own seven-point run, getting two aces from Rada and two kills from junior Alyssa Stanek.
The Warriors ended the game by scoring eight of the final 11 points as Alison Brodahl hit two kills and Neumann committed three errors. Six different Wahoo players hit kills in the opening game.
Game two was tied seven times, last at 15-15, before Wahoo scored the final 10 points. Krecklow served three aces during the late run and Katelyn O’Brien hit a kill to put the Warriors ahead two games to none.
“We were running our offense and doing some great things,” said Wahoo co-coach Trish Larson. “Things were going our way. Our game plan was to mix it up and get our middles involved.”
Warrior middle hitters O’Brien and Emily Brodahl combined for 14 kills and each had five block assists. Brodahl had one solo block. Kayla Bennett, a 5-foot-7 junior, led Wahoo with 15 kills, while Alison Brodahl added seven and Krecklow had six. Mahala Egr set 32 assists.
Neumann, which had defeated Wahoo 2-0 and 3-0 in two earlier matches this season, scored 10 of the first 11 points to begin game three. Wahoo drew to within 15-12, but the Cavaliers closed the game behind four kills and three block assists from Stanek, who finished with a match-high 16 kills.
Game four featured six ties before Neumann pulled away to the 11-point win. McKenzie Fujan hit three of her 10 kills in the set, which ended with back-to-back kills from Rada.
“Our serve receive and blocking were things we needed to work on,” Rada said. “Other than that, we just picked up our play.”
Wahoo scored the first two points of the decisive set before it was tied five times. Holly Fujan’s kill on a tip started Neumann on an 8-2 match-ending run. McKenzie served two aces during the spurt and Holly Fujan’s final serve hit the net before falling to the floor.
Neumann totaled 12 ace serves, twice as many as Wahoo.
“We have places we go to, but the biggest key is to be aggressive,” said Rada, who said playing Wahoo means more than a normal match. “There’s a little more pressure because we’re in the same town.”
That added pressure may have hindered the Warriors, according to Larson.
“I think we wanted it too much; we started playing scared after awhile,” she said. “We lost our confidence there the last three sets. We’ve been a little up and down with that.”
Wahoo (22-10) 25 25 15 14 9
Wahoo Neumann (22-6) 20 15 25 25 15
W (kills-aces-blocks) - Kayla Bennett 15-1-1, Mahala Egr 2-0-0, Liane White 0-0-0, Kylie Krecklow 6-3-0, Emily Brodahl 6-0-6, Annie Divis 0-0-0, Darcy Barry 0-2-0, Alison Brodahl 7-0-5, Katelyn O’Brien 8-0-1.
WN - Grace Chvatal 0-0-0, Toni Rada 3-4-0, Holly Fujan 8-2-2, Audrey DeLay 3-0-1, Amelia Homes 1-2-4, Alyssa Stanek 16-0-5, McKenzie Fujan 10-4-4, Brittany Wotipka 0-0-0.
Set Assists - W 37 (Egr 32, Barry 3, Krecklow 1, Divis 1), WN 38 (Rada 24, M. Fujan 12, Stanek 1, Homes 1). c
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