RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL - Three meets, three firsts for RL volleyball
The high hopes Rib Lake had coming into the new volleyball season have been more than justified in the first week with three tournament championships and a perfect record.
The Redmen improved to 11-0 with three more wins at Tuesday’s Owen-Withee Quad and have not even dropped a set to start the year. The team’s 2-0 wins in Tuesday’s quad came against the host Blackhawks, Greenwood and Flambeau.
The Owen-Withee match capped the action Tuesday and was the most competitive of the three matches.
Rib Lake jumped ahead 6-1 in set one following consecutive kills from Madilyn Blomberg, Madelyn Anderson and, after a long rally, Megan Komarek. Owen-Withee pulled within 7-6 after a Kayla Rasmussen kill, but then Rib Lake created some separation with a 7-1 spurt. Tessa Weik got a bump to fall and hit the corner with a push and Camryn Glenzer’s spike off the top of the net hit the floor.
Coralee Glenzer connected on two crosscourt kills to stretch the lead to 15-8.
Owen-Withee made a little run to close the gap to 16-12, but Rib Lake’s strength at the net took over. Camryn Glenzer got a kill, Blomberg spiked a free ball, Komarek capped a long rally with a kill and she teamed up with Anderson for a block that made it 20-12. Anderson and Komarek had kills down the stretch and Avery Niemi ended the first set at 25-16 with an ace.
Rib Lake trailed the second set 9-7 and 1714 before an Anderson kill sparked a late run by the Redmen. Weik’s dump found a hole. Coralee Glenzer’s tip got just over a blocker and to the floor to cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 18-17. Komarek’s kills tied it at 19-19 and 2020. After a couple of Owen-Withee errors, Niemi and Weik set up a Blomberg kill that made it 23-20 and Komarek’s rare assist set up Blomberg for the final kill at 25-20.
The kills were spread out in that match, just as Rib Lake was hoping to see this fall. Komarek had eight, Blomberg had six and Anderson had five. Six different players registered kills. The team was 49 for 50 in serving with four aces, including two from Coralee Glenzer. Weik was 13 for 13. Anderson had four total blocks. Weik had 14 assists and Blomberg had nine. Three players got into double digits with digs as there were some long rallies, which Rib Lake seemingly always won. Weik had 16, Camryn Glenzer had 12 and Tahlia Scheithauer had 11.
Rib Lake was in total command of the first two matches of the quad. The Redmen took care of Greenwood 25-8, 259. Blomberg had nine kills and Komarek had seven in that win. Camryn Glenzer added four. Blomberg had five aces, Komarek had three and Coralee Glenzer had two. Rib Lake had just two errors in 48 serve attempts. Weik had 13 assists and six digs.
Rib Lake flustered Flambeau into several errors in a 25-9, 25-18 sweep. The second set was 23-11 before the Falcons got on a little bit of a late run.
Kill leaders included Blomberg with five, Anderson and Weik with four and Komarek and Camryn Glenzer with three each. Rib Lake had 10 aces. Coralee Glenzer had four and Komarek had three. Scheithauer had six digs and Blomberg had eight assists.
Rib Lake has another quad today, Thursday, at Auburndale that starts at 5 p.m. Owen-Withee and Colby will be the other squads. Marawood North play starts Tuesday when Rib Lake hosts Prentice in its home opener with the varsity match set for 7 p.m.
Champs at Marathon
Rib Lake blew by the competition at Saturday’s eight-team Marathon Invitational, winning all five matches in straight sets to win the tournament title. It’s Rib Lake’s first championship at this tournament since 2004. The Redmen finished second in the four years after that.
The Redmen opened play in a fourteam pool with Stratford, Spencer and Phillips.
In round one, Rib Lake held off a second-set push by the Tigers to earn a 2514, 25-23 sweep. Anderson had a strong match with nine kills and Coralee Glenzer came up big as well with seven kills. Weik had nine digs, while Scheithauer and Camryn Glenzer had seven each. Blomberg had 14 assists and Weik had 11.
Anderson had two kills and a block, which was followed by three Coralee Glenzer kills to open up a 14-3 lead in set one. Stratford led set two 13-6 before Rib Lake clawed its way back, tying it at 19-19 on a Coralee Glenzer kill and then taking the lead on a Komarek ace.
Rib Lake swept its Marawood North rival Phillips 25-19, 25-18 in round two. The Redmen led comfortably through most of the first set, but again had to dig out of an early hole in game two. Phillips led 14-10 after a run of service aces from Mya Hertlein, but kills by Coralee Glenzer and Weik and two aces from Coralee Glenzer got Rib Lake back on track. Anderson’s solo block made it 20-16 and Weik’s powerful kill ended it.
Weik had seven kills, five digs and six assists in that win. Komarek had three aces as Rib Lake was 46 of 49 in serving. Komarek was involved in three blocks while Anderson and Camryn Glenzer had four total blocks each. Scheithauer had seven digs and Blomberg had eight assists.
Coralee Glenzer got kills from the left and right side as Rib Lake opened up a 179 lead in set one with Spencer before holding on for a 25-21 win. The Redmen controlled game two as well, getting ahead 16-8 and 23-13 before finishing it at 25-17. Weik had eight kills, Komarek had seven and Blomberg had six. Anderson had three total blocks, Scheithauer had two aces and 10 digs. Weik had 18 assists and Blomberg had 11.
Rib Lake’s 3-0 pool record put it up against Fall Creek in the championship bracket semifinals. The Redmen took control in the middle of game one with a 10-2 run that put them up 20-10. Kills by Komarek and Blomberg helped cap a 2513 win. The Crickets hung tough in game two, pulling within 17-16 at one point. An Anderson block, a Weik kill and a Coralee Glenzer ace regained momentum for Rib Lake, who won it 25-21.
Anderson had nine kills against the Crickets and Komarek had eight. Weik had 10 assists. Blomberg had seven digs, while Scheithauer and Weik had six each.
When Stratford knocked off pool champion Marathon in the other semifinal, it set up a rematch between the Redmen and Tigers for the tournament championship. The match was never in doubt.
Rib Lake jumped ahead 12-6 in the first set and, after the Tigers, got within 12-9, the Redmen took off. Blomberg had a tip kill and then a big kill to the back line. Anderson tapped a free ball, Komarek had two kills and Coralee Glenzer killed a free ball to make it 23-12. Anderson’s kill off a Blomberg assist clinched the set at 25-13.
It was 9-7 in set two when Rib Lake took charge on Weik’s offensive tear. Four kills from her opened up a 14-7 lead. Niemi’s bump found a hole in Stratford’s defense to make it 19-11. Scheithauer’s nice dig led to a Komarek kill at 23-12 and Anderson’s kill off a Weik assist ended it at 25-15.
Rib Lake missed just one serve in 49 attempts. Camryn Glenzer was 17 for 17. Anderson had nine kills and Komarek had eight. Weik had 10 assists and Blomberg had five. Blomberg also led with seven digs. Scheithauer and Weik had six each.
Fall Creek beat Marathon for third place, Spencer upset Phillips for fifth and Three Lakes beat Thorp for seventh.
Rib Lake also won the Loyal Quad to start the season on Aug. 26.
