Rhinelander kept pace with Tomahawk on the way to a Great Northern Conference volleyball title by beating Mosinee 25-19, 25-15, 18-25 and 25-20 Tuesday night.

The final regular season match in Rhinelander was a success.

“It’s tough to play on Senior Night when you have girls that are crying when you start the match. But we did what we needed to do to get the win, and that’s what’s important,” said coach Kathy Wawrzynowicz.

Katie Berrell and Taylor Wissbroecker combined for 39 kills, and Lindsay Berrell had 47 assists to lead the Hodag charge. Megan Haug tallied 23 digs.

Wissbroecker and Lindsay Berrell were particularly effective servers.

“They both have really tough serves to be able to pass. Once Lindsay and Taylor get on a roll, it’s hard to pass those serves because it’s constantly moving, and you never know which direction they’re moving,” Wawrzynowicz said.

Rhinelander used streaks at the end of the first two games to put away the Indians and go up 2-0.

“We passed the ball well, we didn’t serve too badly, and we got the ball to our big hitters,” said Wawrzynowicz.

But the third game was a trouble spot.

“We started out strong, but we always seem to have that M.O. of falling apart one game, and of course we did that third game,” Wawrzynowicz said. “To take nothing away from Mosinee, because they played a great match tonight, but we always tend to play to the level of our competition. I thought we were kind of slow moving tonight at points.”

The Hodags put together a solid fourth game to end it and move to 8-1 in GNC play.

Winning the remainder of their matches would guarantee Rhinelander at least a share of the GNC title.

Their remaining three matches are Saturday at Conference Meet #2 in Minocqua vs. Medford, Northland Pines, and Lakeland.

Editor’s note: For more coverage of local sports, visit StarJournalNOW.com and HodagSports.com.