By Jed Buelow
Tomahawk Leader Co-Editor, Sports, Nature Editor
In front of a fired up fan base at Hatchet Fieldhouse, Brynn Beaumier scored an ace to stretch the early lead to 20-13 and cause Rhinelander to call a timeout as the crowd erupted. Mady Hanse spent most the game above the net and helped Tomahawk take the first set 25-17.
The Hodags would claw their way back into the game in set two, as they hung on to get the 25-21 win to tie it at 1-1. Tomahawk would make quick work of the comeback however, as the Lady Hatchets dropped the hatchet taking the next two 25-17 and 25-15 to get the 3-1 win over Rhinelander.
The win improved Tomahawk’s record to 6-6 in the GNC and 17-20 overall. Seeded #9 in the WIAA D2 Regional action, the Lady Hatchets travel to Medford tonight (Tuesday) where they will take on the Raiders starting at 7 p.m. The winner of the game will go on to take on the #1 seeded Indians in Mosinee Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
JV Hatchets finish season with sweep at Lakeland
The JV Hatchet spikers finished their season in perfect fashion getting a clean sweep at the Lakeland Invite last week. They started out beating Rhinelander 25-16, 25-17 before taking on what would be their toughest contest of the tourney.
Coming off a win over Northland Pines, Lakeland came out fighting against Tomahawk but the Lady Hatchets didn’t let them change their aggressive style of play coming back to get the win 25-18, 25-23. The Hatchets would finish out the successful night taking down Northland Pines 25-14, 25-14 to avenge a regular season loss to the Eagles and finish the Lakeland Invite undefeated.
Amalie Kurth was dominant from behind the serve line converting 100 percent of 30 serves while finishing the day with five aces. As a team, the Lady Hatchets made 88 percent of serves. Alyssa Klopatek was a beast in the back row scoring a 2.8 passer rating over 26 serve receives and 11 free ball pass attempts. She also led the team in digs with 14. Aubrey Fryar led the team with 12 kills, followed by Gracie Barnett with 9 and Emily Maki and Addison Bartz finished with seven apiece. Carly Scholz and Emilie Scholz assisted those kills with 21 and 19 assists, respectively.
JV Hatchet coach Emily Pierce said a coach always wants their players playing their best at the end of the season, and these young ladies did not disappoint.
“They played with their hearts, were aggressive on the ball, and had a lot of fun in the process,” Pierce said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”