Posen’s volleyball season ends with loss to Hillman in district tournament
by Richard Lamb–Advance Editor
After winning the first set, the Posen Vikings fell to the Hillman Tigers 1-3 (25-20, 16-25, 24-26,18-25) in the first round of district volleyball action. A hot start by senior leadoff server Maddi Styma fired up the Vikings. She drilled five aces on the way to a 7-0 Posen lead.
Points came in bunches during the first set as Hillman came back to get the next five points before each team traded three-point runs. The teams each suffered service errors to make the score 18-14 with Posen out front.
Then, with Aubrey Weiland on the service line for Hillman, the Tigers went on a 5-0 run to take a brief 19-18 lead. Posen responded with tip-winners by Alyssa Smigelski and Samantha Szott in a three-point run. After a blast through the Posen defense by Hillman middle hitter Gretchen Weiland, Posen’s junior setter Ella Hincka placed a perfectly aimed kill for point number 22 for the Vikings.
Posen followed that with a few big saves in a long rally to go up 23-20, forcing Hillman to call timeout. But the Vikings’ momentum continued as sophomore libero Callie Krajniak notched an ace serve and Hincka came up with another kill for the winning points.
Hillman snared the momentum in the second set, bursting out to a 5-0 lead and never trailing. Kills by Smigelski and Nora Kowalski cut the lead to 20-15, but Posen could get no closer.
The teams played evenly in the third set with the score tied five times until Posen went out to a 16-10 lead. With Posen leading 21-14, the Tigers started to roar, reeling off six-straight points to move within one point of the lead. A missed attack gave Posen point 22, but a service error cut the Vikings’ lead to 22-21.
Hillman took the lead but Posen tied the score at 24-24. Then two missed attacks gave Hillman the winning points to go up two sets to one.
After getting the first point on Addison Chojnacki’s kill, the Vikings fell behind and never caught up in the fourth set. Facing match point at 24-15, Posen saved three points before finally losing to Hillman.
First-year coach Beth Hamilton was proud of the way her team played against Hillman.
“They played really great in the first set, but I think at the end they were just losing stamina. They lost steam. It is hard when you come from winning and then lose two games,” Hamilton said.
“This is some of the best volleyball they have played all s
No statistics were available for Posen.
Hillman played Atlanta Wednesday with the winner to face the winner of the Rogers City vs. Onaway match also set for Wednesday after press time. For results and schedule see Presque Isle Newspapers’ Facebook page and website PIAdvance.com. where there is also a link for ticket information. The Michigan High School Athletic Association has mandated that all tickets be purchased online through GoFan.co. No cash ticket sales will be available at the door.
The championship match is set for tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. at Rogers City High School. The winner of the Rogers City district plays the winner of the Harbor Springs district in the first round of regionals Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Hillman. The regional finals will be played in Pellston Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. The regional winner plays at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at Manistique for the right to play at the Nov. 21 semifinal at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.
