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Manawa netters lose close game

In their final regular season game, the Manawa Wolves volleyball team traveled to Bonduel to face off against the Bears. This proved to be an epic match.

The teams fought to the fifth and deciding game which ended in a heart-breaking 17-15 lose for the Wolves.

In the first set the Wolves and Bears battled back and forth throughout the entire game. In the end Bonduel reached 25 first, with Manawa scoring 23 points.

One server for the Bears dominated the second set of play. She scored 11 of the Bears 25 service points and the Wolves struggled to shut her down. The Bears won the second set 25-17.

Not wanting the match to be over, and knowing that they could compete against the Bears, Manawa made a slight change to their line up in the third game and it proved to work in their favor. Serving four aces throughout the set, and playing sound offensive volleyball, Manawa fought back in the third set and won 25-17.

The Wolves dominated the fourth set. They took an early 17-8 lead and Bonduel was not able to fight back. By winning the fourth set, 25-16, Manawa forced the Bears to the fifth and deciding set.

The final set was close. The teams tied the game at six and then the Bears put three points on the board while Manawa struggled to score offensive points. With Bonduel up 14 to 11, Manawa fought to stay alive. They earned their side out and, with great pressure serving from Ashlee Strebe, tied the game at 14. Bonduel stopped the scoring run, going up 15-14, but Manawa answered right back, tying the game once again at 15. Side out again for the Bears and this time they were able to finish the game with one service point. The game and match ended, 17-15 in favor of the Bears.

Kali Young and Breana Haines both played well in the match. They shared point leader honors with 15 each. Aubrie Millard, Katie Velie, Strebe and Autumn Ferg each had five, while Baylee Gorges had three, Lexi Sell had two and Molly Loughrin and Brogan Bartel both had one. Setters, Velie and Millard each had an awesome night. Velie led her team with 15 assists. Libero, Gorges, had 15 digs for the evening, while Young had 14 and Haines and Millard both had 12. Haines also dominated from the service line. She served 25-25 with five of her serves being aces. Gorges also was 100 percent from the line, serving 12-12 and Bartel was 2-2.

Conference Tournament

On Saturday, Oct. 12, the Wolves participated in the Conference Tournament in Weyauwega. Manawa played against the hosting team, Amherst and Pacelli. The tournament was played best out of three sets with the third set played only if necessary.

To start off their morning Manawa played against Weyauwega-Fremont. The previous time these two teams met W-F beat the Wolves in three quick games. Manawa was determined to show W-F that they could play better than they had in the previous match-up. In the first set Manawa jumped out to an early lead and then W-F tied it at nine. On their next server, the Indians put six points on the board and the Wolves could not overcome that difference. The set ended, 25-19 in Wega’s favor.

The Indians dominated the second set, jumping out to an early 12-3 lead. A lack of offense from the Wolves allowed W-F to finish the set 25-10. Offensive points were hard to come by in this match for Manawa. Haines had three while Young, Sell and Millard each had two and Velie and Ferg had 1. Sell led the setters with five assists and Strebe had eight digs, while Young and Sell each had seven. Serving was a strength for the Wolves in the match. Five of the Wolves six servers were 100 percent from the line. Sell served 8-8 while Velie was 6-6, Strebe served 5-5, Young was 4-4 and Gorges was 2-2.

The Wolves started off very strong in the second match of the day against the Amherst Falcons. These two teams were evenly matched. Unfortunately, serving was not a strength for the Wolves in this game. Five missed serves from Manawa allowed Amherst the opportunity to take control of the match. They won in two close sets with scores of 25-19 and 25-20.

Haines had nine points for the match and also led in the dig column with 10. Other point contributors included: Young (4), Sell (3), Chloe Koehn (3), Millard (2) and Velie, Loughrin, Strebe and Ferg all with one. Loughrin also played a great defensive game, having eight digs for the match. Setters Sell and Velie both did well in the assist column. Sell had nine while Velie had seven. Both Haines and Strebe served 7-7 for the match and Gorges and Loughrin were 2-2.

In the final match of the day, Manawa surprised the Pacelli Cardinals by putting up quite a fight in the first set. The Wolves got down early, with Pacelli leading 18 to 12. They fought back, bringing the game to within four points at 22-18. On their side out, Pacelli put one offensive point on the board and only needed to earn game point. Manawa fought for their rally point and scored one more service point before the set ended 25-20.

It was all Pacelli in the second game. They jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and continued to roll from there. The match ended 25-11 in the Cardinals favor.

Young was the point leader in this match for the Wolves with six. Haines and Koehn each contributed two, while Gorges and Strebe had one. Sell had nine assists for the match while Young, Haines and Strebe each had six digs. Serving 7-7, Sell was the service leader for the match, followed by Haines (4-4), Gorges (3-3) and Velie (2-2).

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