Gresham earns road volleyball win over Tigerton

The Gresham Community School volleyball team remained perfect in Central Wisconsin Conference-North Division play after earning a 26-24, 25-15, 24-26, 25-19 win over Tigerton on Sept. 22 in Tigerton.

Gresham prevailed behind big games from Chloe Bohl and Janay Pecore-Kirkland, with the duo combining for 36 kills to help the visitors claim some close sets.

“At the beginning of the set, we weren’t really communicating or moving our feet, or even like talking or working as a team, but at the end, we started working together and communicating and trusting each other and that’s really what made us take the win,” said Bohl, who finished with 21 total kills — 17 attack kills and four block kills.

The back-and-forth battle between the conference foes began right away in set one. Bohl had a kill to help the Wildcats go up three, but Tigerton rallied behind some kills from Skyler Hauser and eventually grabbed the lead.

Maddie Haffner and Bohl each had a kill on another 3-0 Gresham run, but Tigerton responded with a 3-0 run of its own as Hauser served to retake the lead.

Gresham didn’t lead for the next several points and was down 23-21 before rallying. A Tigerton error followed by a Bohl kill tied the match at 23, only to have Hauser score for the Tigers to move within a point of taking the set. Bohl had back-to-back kills to give Gresham the lead, and then Lexi Baddmoccosin-Barnes served an ace to finish off the set.

“Games like this really get us ready for regionals and sectionals, if we go hopefully this year,” said Bohl of how the tight match can help the team moving forward.

Bohl and Pecore-Kirkland played big roles in Gresham’s strong second set.

Pecore-Kirkland opened the set with a kill and then served an ace. After Tigerton pulled ahead after a couple Hauser kills, Bohl had an attack kill and block to push the visitors back ahead.

Bohl was serving when the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run to take control of the set. Josie Cerveny later provided more strong serving, with kills from Jessa Jensen and Pecore-Kirkland pushing the lead out to eight, 16-8.

Tigerton’s Abby Swartz delivered a kill to get Tigerton back on track briefly, but a kill from Haffner and ace from Tia Terrio brought Gresham’s lead to nine.

Tigerton continued to battle, getting back within five after a couple more kills from Hauser, but Bohl posted two more kills and the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run as Baddmoccosin-Barnes served to finish off the set.

“I think just encouraging each other and trying to keep each other motivated to push forward and win the game,” said Pecore-Kirkland on what led to the team’s win.

Set three was another close battle between the teams, with neither team leading by more than four the whole set.

After splitting the first 20 points, Bohl added a couple more kills to her stat line to put Gresham ahead. Tigerton trailed 20-16, but scored five of the next six points to tie things back up, with Jade Selle providing some strong serves and Hauser delivering another kill along the way.

The teams traded the next five points, leaving Gresham with a 24-23 lead, but three straight errors from the Wildcats allowed the Tigers to extend the match another set.

“Our team really feeds off of energy, definitely. So when we get one good play that really boosts us up for the next play and makes us work harder for it and just play together as a team,” said Hauser.

The battle continued in set four. Gresham was leading 8-7 before Jensen delivered a kill and then provided some strong serving to spark a 5-0 Wildcat run. Pecore-Kirkland had two kills on the run.

Selle and Samantha Suehring each served an ace for the Tigers on a quick 5-1 spurt, but Bohl had two more kills on a 6-2 Gresham run to regain control.

A Cerveny ace and Jensen kill brought Gresham within two points of victory, but two errors kept Tigerton in it. A Jensen point was followed by a Hauser kill before Pecore-Kirkland delivered the match-sealing kill.

Pecore-Kirkland had 13 attack kills and two block kills on the night, while Jensen finished with nine kills. Baddmoccosin-Barnes and Cerveny set up the team’s attackers all night, tallying 13 and 11 assists, respectively. Libero Rylie Kakwitch tallied nine digs.

Hauser led Tigerton with 16 attack kills and two blocks, while also providing a team-leading 22 digs.

Swartz recorded six total kills and 11 digs for the Tigers, while McKenzie Hoffman had 12 assists. Selle finished with 13 digs and 10 service points, with Suehring chipping in 10 service points and six digs.

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