Onalaska volleyball gave the perennial district champion Anderson-Shiro Lady Owls a tough contest by the lake, but could not keep momentum after a big opening set. The Lady Owls took a 24-26, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-9 match Tuesday.
The opener remained close throughout, but Onalaska was able to grab a 16-12 advantage. Anderson-Shiro tied it at 18 and looked to win, ahead 24-22. Yet, it was the home team scoring four straight to go up 1-0.
“Actually, our starting setter and senior captain, Faith Tyerman, is out with a concussion. This is our first time running the 5-1 and it is new,” Onalaska coach Megan Nichols said. “All of it is new. I thought they did really good. They worked really hard and I'm proud of what we showed tonight.
“I thought that Morgan Farrar, our sophomore setter that is in for Faith right now – we usually run a 6-2 with her – she just does a great job of having really big energy. Every single point, she just goes all out. I thought she did a great job of leading today and adjusting to the 5-1 for the first time.”
Another back-and-forth battle could have gone either way in the second set. However, it was Anderson-Shiro scoring the final four points to even the match at 1-1.
Onalaska started hot with a 6-1 lead in the third, but the Lady Owls would soon recover. They took a lead at 12-11 and held it the rest of the way, distancing themselves at the end.
The final set was never in doubt, taking the set and match with a 16-point victory.
Leading the team in kills for the night was Kelli Arce, who hammered kills from all over the court.
“Kelli has just been excellent all around. She plays six rotations for us. In the more recent weeks, she's done really great at backrow attacks,” Nichols said. “We can set her from any spot on the floor and she will go and swing on it. She was really great when we played New Waverly at home and beat them in four sets. She probably had double digit kills, because we can set her wherever now. She has just been great and consistent.”
Onalaska currently sits in third place and Nichols says Van Vleck is the likely opponent in the postseason’s first round.
“That should be a good game, but we are looking for our first playoff win since 2011. That's the goal, and we set that goal last year to make the playoffs. This year, we stepped it up and really want a playoff win. We're looking to fine tune in these last district games.”
The school honored the seniors before Tuesday night's action with a ceremony and video. Ryllee Martin, Chloe Mitschke and Faith Tyerman are the seniors on this year's squad.
“We're going to miss those seniors a lot. I always say the hardest part of taking over a program is getting your upperclassmen to buy in. When we came here last year, they were juniors. One of them (Mitschke), her mom was the head coach before I got here. All of them – Chloe, Riley and Faith – have just done a really great job of buying in. I really think that's why we've seen the success that we've seen, because they do a great job of leading and it just comes down from the top from them. We are going to miss them a lot next year.”
