Lena volleyball team falls to Wabeno/Laona in three sets

Wildcats’ season comes to end in sectional semifinal
By: 
Luke Reimer
Reporter

The Lena High School girls volleyball season came to end Oct. 27 after the Wildcats lost in three sets to the Wabeno/Laona Rebels in the sectional semifinal round of the Division 4 tournament.

Lena came into this game with plenty of momentum and three straight playoff wins under its belt, including wins over first-seeded Suring and second-seeded Gresham. Lena’s run came to end though against Wabeno/Laona, as the Rebels took down the Wildcats 25-17, 25-11, 25-6 in Shawano.

While the season did not end the way that Lena players and coaches had hoped, senior Natalie McNurlen spoke on what her experience was like with the team in the playoffs.

“Going through regionals, we just had that team connection to beat the first seed and second seed,” said McNurlen. She added it felt amazing to defeat top-seeded Suring. “We haven’t been the regional champs in 32 years, so it was really cool bringing that back.”

“We communicated. We all had fun, and no one had attitudes,” said senior Makynna Herald, when recapping the postseason.

Being the first Lena volleyball team to make it to sectionals in 32 years was a major accomplishment, Herald said.

“We feel very proud that we came this far,” said Herald. “It is sad that is has to end this way, but we came this far and it was super fun.”

Wabeno/Laona got out to a quick start, mostly on the back of Allison Albrecht, who scored the first three points for the Rebels. Down 3-1 in the first set of the match, Lena sophomore Peyton Dorow scored the first ace. Scoring kept coming for Wabeno/Laona, as the team eventually built a 9-4 lead, before Lena junior Alabama Lambert recorded the Wildcats’ second ace of the set.

The Rebels immediately responded, recording their first ace of the match by way of freshman Lily Terry. That ace put Wabeno/Laona up 11-5. Lena closed in on that lead, scoring four out of the next six points, with senior Claire Brooks leading the way with a kill.

But 13-10 was as close as Lena got, with the Rebels going on a 5-0 run, with five different players scoring. Dorow stopped the flurry of points, scoring to bring the score to 18-11. The Rebels built the lead up to 21-10, before McNurlen and junior Mackenzie Vorpahl scored back-to-back points as part of a three-point run.

The Rebels scored four of the next six points, including an ace from Ava Cleereman to win the set.

“We talked about how talking would be a big thing — communication. And honestly, where we went wrong was just talking,” said Herald. “We played slower than we usually have in our other regional games. In our other regional games. we played by talking, not having attitudes and as a whole team. And as a team in this game, I feel like we were individual.”

The Wildcats began in a hole to start the second set, as Wabeno/Laona opened the set on an 8-0 run, headlined by three straight aces from Cleereman. Brooks brought Lena back into the set, as she recorded two points in response to the 8-0 run, including a kill.

The Rebels built the lead back up to 10, scoring the next four points. The second set got worse for Lena before it got better, as the team eventually found themselves down 16-4.

McNurlen was not ready for the set to end though, as she led a three-point run for Lena, with two points coming by way of aces. Wabeno/Laona shut the door on the comeback, scoring six out of the next seven points and seven out of the next 11 points to win the set.

The teams traded points to open the third set. Then, as was the theme of this match, Wabeno/Laona went on another huge run, this time scoring eight straight points.

A single Lena point, due to serve out of bounds, bridged the gap between the Rebels’ eight-point run and another four-point run.

Down 13-3, McNurlen got Lena back into the scoring column. McNurlen and sophomore Eva Brooks could only muster three more points, as Wabeno/Laona scored 13 more points over the course of 16-point span to win the set and ultimately the match.

“We definitely did not have that energy that we wanted,” said McNurlen. “We weren’t getting that team connection that we had the rest of the regional or season, but I am happy we made it as far as we had.”

With this being her last game in a Lena uniform, McNurlen said that becoming a leader has been something that she has learned to do.

“You have to have the one person on the team that has to feed the energy, otherwise it’s not there,” McNurlen said. “I have definitely learned to be that person.”

On top of learning to be a leader, Herald said that she has learned how important communication can be.

“It might seem silly in volleyball because you have to move around, but communication is the biggest thing,” said Herald.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com