Norse fall to ECI, rebound at E/PC tournament

The Whitehall volleyball team opened Dairyland Conference play with a tough matchup, but rebounded with three wins in a tournament last week.

The Norse stuck with Eau Claire Immanuel on the road last Thursday, but the Lancers came away with a three-set sweep. On Saturday, however, Whitehall swept three opponents as it went 3-1 in a tournament hosted by Elmwood/Plum City.

Whitehall begins this week with a match record of 6-6 before hosting Blair-Taylor on Tuesday. The Norse will welcome Augusta this coming Tuesday before playing at Independence/Gilmanton next Thursday. 

WHS   18 15 18

ECI      25 25 25

Whitehall coach Cathy McCune said her team never stopped battling, but it wasn’t enough against a “well-rounded, talented hitting team.”

McCune said her team had some great set-ups for attacks, blocks and serves, but the Lancers were too much, sweeping the conference match. 

Olivia Killian led Whitehall with eight kills and three blocks at the net. Kelsie Klomsten and Ashlyn Clatt both had two kills while Brinna Goplin, Harlow Foss and Edie Matejka all had one. Kyla Lambeck led the team with five aces, Hailey Przybylla added three, Aryana Ausderau, two and Goplin, Killian and Klomsten all had one. 

The Norse had six service aces, three by Avvia Herman. Kylee Estenson, Matejka and Lambeck had the other three. 

Przybylla and Goplin tied for the team-lead with six digs, Foss added five.

E/PC Tournament

McCune said her team showed a lot of improvement as it went 3-1 in the tournament. 

Whitehall swept E/PC (25-23, 25-22), Clayton (25-19, 25-14) and Luck (25-19, 25-19) to get into the gold bracket, where it lost to Alma/Pepin (25-21, 25-16).

“The team showed a lot of improvement overall,” McCune said. “Passing was a lot better, which helps our offense tremendously. Blocking was a huge factor as well, along with some pretty consistent serving.”

The Norse had a balanced attack at the net against E/PC. Foss led the team with five kills while Killian and Ausderau both had three, Clatt and Klomsten finished with two and both Przybilla and Vivian Kulig had one. Killian added four blocks and Klomsten had one.

Przybylla led the team with seven assists, while Lambeck had five, Goplin, two and Trinity Aasen, one. 

Estenson had two aces while Herman, Przybilla, Foss and Lambeck all had one. Goplin led the team with six digs. 

Killian had six blocks and four kills to lead the team at the net against Clayton. Clatt added four kills, while Klomsten had two kills and three blocks. Foss had three kills and Auderau had one. 

Lambeck had four aces while both Przybylla and Foss had two, Killian had one. Lambeck had five assists to lead the team while Przybylla had three and Klomsten finished with one. Goplin led the team with seven digs. 

Killian had nine kills and three blocks against Luck. Foss added six kills while Clatt came in with five, Ausderau, Herman and Sophia Skoyen all had one. Ausderau added two blocks. 

Lambeck had four aces at the service line, while Przybilla had two and both Herman and Skoyen had one. Lambeck also led the team with 10 assists, one more than Przybylla. Goplin had a team-high nine digs. 

Foss led Whitehall with four kills against A/P as she added one block. Killian had two kills and four blocks, while Przybilla, Aasen, Kulig, Clatt and Klomsten all had one kill. 

Goplin had Whitehall’s only ace in the final match. Lambeck had a team-high six assists as Przybylla added three. Herman led the team with nine digs.