Volleyball loss is another net gain in learning

The education of the Port Washington High School volleyball team continued last Thursday as the Pirates were swept by Whitefish Bay, 25-21, 25-22, 25-14

But the first two games could have gone either way.

“I thought we competed well in the first two sets. The energy was there, the effort was there,” coach Paul Jungbauer said.

In the first game, neither team had more than a three-point lead until the end. The Pirates and Blue Dukes were tied at 5, 8, 12, 13 and 17 before Whitefish Bay pulled away.

A Jennacy Wille ace got the Pirates to 20-19, and a Blue Duke error let Port close to 21-20, but Whitefish Bay made just enough plays down the stretch.

In the second game, Port fell behind, 9-4, before coming back to tie the score at 12.

After ties at 13 and 14, the Blue Dukes went on a 5-1 run to make it 20-15. Behind a Kelly Fischer ace and two Blue Duke errors, the Pirates closed to 21-20, causing Whitefish Bay to use a timeout.

A net serve gave the Blue Dukes a 22-20 lead, but a Wille kill made it 22-21. The Blue Dukes scored on a kill, and Port’s Elyse Karrels answered with one of her own before two kills closed the game.

Just a few untimely errors by the Pirates gave the Blue Dukes the advantage.

“Those are the things that we’re working hard to get us truly over that hump,” Jungbauer said.

“It still is a little bit of that learning experience with a younger team. Knowing when to push the pedal, when to look for a location, when to mix shots up. They’re building that knowledge now that they’ll be able to draw on in the future.”

In the third game, errors dug the Pirates a 12-6 hole. A Wille ace made it 16-12, which was as close as they would get.

“It was tough to get in rhythm in the third set with three missed serves in a row,” Jungbauer said.

Wille let Port with nine kills. Karrels had five and Fischer had four.

Wille had three aces. Lippe had seven digs, Amira Szczepanski had six and Wille had five. Julia Schmit had 23 assists.

“Offensively, Jennacy Wille was tough to stop. I just wish we could have found a way to get her the ball more. She happened to be in the front row when we were missing serves early on,” Jungbauer said.

“Kelly Fischer had some good shots on the right side for us when she had some opportunities.”

Port at times was just overmatched.

“They have two very tough outside hitters, very solid players. With their size and athleticism — often times they  were just going straight over the top of the block. It’s not that we were truly out of position,” Jungbauer said.

Port, 1-5 in the North Shore Conference and 6-6 overall, was to play at NSC-leading Hartford (6-0) on Tuesday and host Slinger (1-5 NSC) on Thursday.

Ozaukee drops Sheb. Lutheran in four

Ozaukee honored their seniors last Thursday by dropping Sheboygan Lutheran, 25-23, 25-13, 24-26, 25-16.

Sydnie Stadler, Lexi Kurlinski, Amanda Dieringer and Josie Robinson “all got together and made an impact in one way or another” on senior night, coach Vanessa Depies said.

Stadler led the Warriors with 19 kills, and Dieringer had six.

Nicole Liermann had 31 assists, 21 digs and two aces. Madison Karmasin had 30 digs.

“Lutheran is an up and coming team with a lot of talent, they were truly fun to play,” Depies said.

“It was a fun and exciting night and we are ready for the post season right around the corner.”

Last week’s match against Cedar Grove-Belgium was canceled because the Rockets are missing too many players due to contact tracing, and last Saturday’s Big East Conference tournament was canceled because too many teams were unable to participate due to the Covid-19 pandemic.