Posen gets to within three points of a title, but can?t finish off Hillman

During crunch time in last Saturday’s Class D District championship match in Hillman, it came down to the fastest team to five more points between the Hillman Tigers and Posen Vikings. Posen had the farthest to get to the championship round and breezed through the competition, sweeping Gaylord St. Mary in the opening round and Johannesburg-Lewiston in the semifinals.

That set up up the finals with Hillman, which ended Atlanta’s season and Husky star Elizabeth Morton’s run of three consecutive district championships. Hillman won a district title at Fairview last year and was looking for a repeat performance, but had to get through the Vikings, who looked unstoppable.

THE MATCH WENT back and forth with Hillman winning the first game 25-19, but the Vikes answered with a 25-15 victory. The Tigers moved to within a game of clinching the title with a 25-12 win in game three, but Posen pulled away from Hillman when the score was 18-16 to take a 25-17 truimph in game four. With the games split at two apiece it was down to the first squad to get to 15 points in the decisive game.

The Tigers went on a quick 3-0 run, but the momentum swung back in favor of the red and white. A couple of kills by Jackie Szczerowski, a bump over and in by Kim Donajkowski, and a couple of misfires by the Tigers put Posen up 6-3.

The score got close again at 7-5, but another kill by Szczerowski, an outside hit by Dorothy Romel, and a serving point by Liz Wozniak, put the Vikings on top 10-6. They were within five points of becoming the first team in school history to win a district championship.

HILLMAN CAME back with the next four points to tie the game at 10, and the sprint to 15 points now included both schools. Hillman had four hits on their side of the court, giving the Vikes an 11-10 lead, but the Tigers tied the score at 11. A tip by Katie Lewandowski in a hole on the front line put Posen up 12-11, but the ensuing serve was hit into the net to tie the score again and the Vikings would get no closer. Hillman’s Jessica Robinson and Donajkowski battled above the net for the next point, but the ball fell on the Posen side for a Hillman point, 13-12.

The Tigers’ Jessica Tebo had two of her 13 kills to end the match and give Hillman the title. The final point was blasted to the back line, just in. The final score was 15-12. It was the second year in a row Posen was within three points of claiming a trophy in a district championship game. “I’m very proud of my girls, they played fantastic,” said coach John Dietlin. “They played their hearts out and I’m just sad that it had to end this way.” Dietlin loses seven seniors: four-year setter Courtney Romel, Lewandowski, Szczerowski, Donajkowski, Dorothy Romel, Whitney Meeder, and Kendra Krajniak.

“I WISH WE could be on the other end, yes, but we had a long road,” said Dietlin. “We started at 9 a.m. against a very tough Gaylord St. Mary team, waited

an hour-and-a-half, and then went up against a very talented Joburg team. We just didn’t have enough left in the tank to finish it off. “This is something that my girls have wanted. This has eluded them. I wish I could have brought it to them.” Courtney Romel had 32 assists, while Szczerowski had six digs and eight kills. Lewandowski had a team-high 12 digs and was followed by Meeder’s eight digs. The Vikings defeated St. Mary’s 25-23, 25-17, and 25-15. The only time they trailed was late in the first game, 20-21, but strong play at the net by Szczerowski and Meeder put the game away.

Against Joburg, Kim Donajkowski ripped a kill to make the score 20-7 in game one and the Vikes never looked back. The scores against the Cardinals were 25-14, 25-13, and 25-15.

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