Oconto Falls ends Lakeland volleyball’s season again

The Lakeland volleyball team put pressure on the Panthers late, but Oconto Falls pulled through to win on Thursday night.

Top-seeded Oconto Falls defeated ninth-seeded Lakeland 3-1 (25-10, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20) in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal game. The Panthers eliminated the Thunderbirds from the postseason for a second straight season.

“Disappointed. I really wanted to push them another set there,” coach Taylor Bruhl said. “We were up in that fourth game, but proud of the girls for fighting all the way through and finishing strong.”

Allyson Seaberg sets the ball in the second set of a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal game against Oconto Falls Thursday, Oct. 24 at Oconto Falls High School.
(Photo by Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)

The Panthers came out firing right away. Lucy Ripley was a force all night for Oconto Falls. The Panthers went to her time and time again, and she delivered. She had two kills in the first three points.

Then, Oconto Falls’ Hailyn St. Louis delivered back-to-back aces to put the Panthers up 5-0. 

“Their serving was probably one of the toughest we’ve seen all year,” Bruhl said. “We were a little off in the back row, and they have a few powerhouse hitters. They definitely showed up to play tonight and showed that they’re the (No.) 1 seed.”

Ripley provide the Panthers with three more points. Isabella Otto assisted the first kill and Rylie Shallow the second. The Panthers led 9-2.

Lakeland’s offense didn’t produce a lot of points in the first set. They finally put down a kill with a Kieran Petrie pass, Tayiah Bauman set and Ava Evenhouse kill.

The Panthers added to their lead with kills by Ripley and Otto. They took set one 25-10.

“Coming in on their home crowd with a packed gym, we played on our heels a little bit, and they just hit a hot streak right off the bat,” Bruhl said.

The Thunderbirds picked up their offense in the second set. They got kills by Sloane Timmerman, Stina Peterson and Petrie, all assisted by Bauman.

However, the Panthers remained in control. Brylee Gorman had an ace, as did Otto. Ripley put down another kill, assisted by Otto. Katelyn Kurek made it 8-3, Oconto Falls’ lead, with her own kill. 

Lakeland went on a mini 4-2 run as they looked to gain confidence. Greta Johnson had the dig, Allyson Seaberg the set and Petrie the tip kill. Evenhouse then had a block.

Johnson and Seaberg teamed up again to help Marlee Strasburg and Peterson get kills. Oconto Falls led 10-7.

Oconto Falls came right back with their best combination of the day — Ripley from Otto. Ripley put down the kill with the assist to Otto. St. Louis delivered another ace.

A little bit later, Gorman went on a stretch that included a kill and two aces. Lakeland would trail by as many as eight points, 11-19, following another Panther kill.

The Thunderbirds ended the second set with a little bit of momentum. They outscored the Panthers 8-6. 

Evenhouse and Cale Quade combined for a block, and Peterson contributed an ace. That prompted Oconto Falls to call their first timeout of the match. Lakeland also took advantage of three service errors by Oconto Falls. 

In the end, Oconto Falls led 2-0 after two sets.

The third set had been a strength of Lakeland all year. They were swept just once in a best-three-out-of-five match all season.

Lakeland showed no quit in another set three victory. They took their first lead of the match at 1-0 when Oconto Falls had an attack error.

Ripley provided Oconto Falls with their best source of offense. The Thunderbirds had an answer in the third set.

An Evenhouse block put Lakeland up 6-5. Later, Peterson denied the Panthers with a thunderous block. Peterson followed that up with a kill. Then it was Johnson with an ace.

“We were getting hands on (Ripley),” Bruhl said. “Our goal was to never leave her one-on-one and to slow down as many balls as possible. Overall, I think we did a good job. She had a couple good swings on us, but we really slowed a lot of her hits down.”

Oconto Falls called a timeout. Lakeland led 12-8, their biggest lead of the match thus far. 

Coming off the timeout, Peterson collected another block to put Lakeland up five points. She finished the game with eight kills, three blocks and three aces, leading the team in all three categories.

A key play happened midway through the third set. Up 14-10, the Thunderbirds stuck with a ball that hit the rafters in the ceiling. They got the ball over the net and eventually won the point to keep the momentum.

Ripley was back at it with a couple of kills. Lakeland came back with an Evenhouse free ball spike and a Timmerman kill, assisted by Seaberg.

“It just took a few games to get the wheels turning and start getting a rhythm and a flow again,” Bruhl said. “We worked on a few kinks, and then we hit our hot streak in that third game.”

Defense sparked Lakeland once again, this time a Peterson/Quade block for a point. After two more kills by Ripley, Lakeland had a Johnson-Bauman-Quade connection to get them one point away from a third-set victory. 

The Thunderbirds got the final point they needed to force a fourth game. They won 25-21.

Johnson came up with a huge dig that led Lakeland to the first point of the fourth set. In fact, they took a 4-0 lead after a couple of attack errors by Oconto Falls.

The play of Peterson had the Thunderbirds with all the momentum. She put down a kill, assisted by Bryn Warchol, and picked up an ace. Oconto Falls would later call a timeout — the Thunderbirds led 8-3.

“We had a good serving streak to begin with, and then we’re putting balls away,” Bruhl said. 

Oconto Falls responded with a kill, a Gorman block and an ace by Shallow. This time, Lakeland called a timeout.

Lakeland kept playing hard. The offense found its rhythm with Johnson passes and Bauman sets resulting in kills by Strasburg and Timmerman. Strasburg fired down a free ball spike, and Peterson tipped the ball for a kill, assisted by Warchol, dug by Petrie.

Lakeland led 14-9, tying their biggest lead of the fourth set.

The Panthers proceeded to go on a 7-1 run. Ripley and Otto combined for three different kills during this stretch. Gorman also had an ace. Lakeland called their second timeout down 15-16.

In fact, Oconto Falls increased their lead to 18-15 with the game slipping away from Lakeland. 

The Thunderbirds had one more run in them. A Petrie attack resulted in a Lakeland point. Peterson fired up Lakeland’s side when her ace tied the game at 18-18. Lakeland won the following point after an attack error by the Panthers.

A 6-0 run by Oconto Falls put them in position to advance to the next round. Ripley added another kill and ace to her statline. They would go on to win the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

“We just got caught in a rut again towards the end of the game when they just ended up being ahead when it mattered,” Bruhl said.

The regional semifinal loss concluded Lakeland’s season with a record of 18-11, their best season win percentage since at least 2008.

“It stings to have our season done right now, but overall the girls are an incredible group,” Bruhl said. “I’m so proud to be their coach for the season, and I hope they leave with positive thoughts on the year.”

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].