At the same time the Milwaukee Brewers were on their way to sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Shawano volleyball team was working on a sweep of its own.
The Hawks headed to New London for a Bay Conference match with the Bulldogs on Oct. 15 and returned home with a win that included 25-15, 25-13 and 25-23 victories.
It was the first of two matchups in less than a week between the two teams, as Shawano is scheduled to host the Bulldogs on Oct. 20 in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal. Shawano received a No. 8 seed for the tournament, while New London entered the postseason as a No. 9 seed.
The win gave the Hawks a 4-4 record in conference matches and is the fourth in a row after Seymour, Winneconne, Xavier and Fox Valley Lutheran swept them and Shawano had an 0-4 record.
Coach Dan Trudgeon attributed his team’s slow start in conference play to facing the Bay’s top teams early in the season.
“We’re a very young team, and were still trying to gel at the beginning of the season,” he said. “We started with Seymour, who was a little more put together than us at the time. Then, it was Xavier, FVL and Winneconne. We played Winneconne really well, it just didn’t go in our favor.”
Besides New London, the Hawks also swept conference opponents Green Bay West and Green Bay East and three of four games from Menasha.
“We worked on the things that work for us as a team,” Trudgeon said. “We weren’t trying to do anything fancy, just stick to the basics and hone in on what this team can bring.”
Trudgeon said the win over the Bulldogs gives his team confidence heading into its rematch with New London.
“I think we know what to expect for Tuesday, we’ll have a good game plan and go from there,” he said. “Nerves and everything else can happen once you’re in regionals. We just have to show up and play how we can play.”
Seeing a familiar team in the tournament also helps, he said.
“There’s less scouting involved,” he said.
Trudgeon is counting on the Hawks playing like they did in the second half of the season.
“We had a core group that was playing together all the time,” he said. “We started the season with 12 (varsity players) instead of our usual 14 or 15. We had a few injuries in there, so it was even fewer playing together all the time. It makes practices a little harder when you can’t do as much with players, but it was the same group of girls playing together all the time.”
Trudgeon said the team’s future is in good hands with several freshmen. One of them – Addison Waukechon – is a starter on the varsity team, while the JV1 and JV2 teams have eight and 13 freshmen, respectively.
“It’s a very big class, and it does look good for the future, because the ones that want to progress have ample opportunity to do so,” he said. “The senior, junior and sophomore classes aren’t as big, so they have opportunity.”
Jacey Cowden hits the floor while diving for the volleyball in Shawano’s 3-0 win over New London. (Greg Seubert)
