RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL - CAN’T START MUCH BETTER

Without question, Rib Lake’s expectations were high coming into the volleyball season.

But even the Redmen will admit a 150 start to the season, a 31-0 set record in those matches and a number-two ranking in Division 5 in this week’s Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association state poll is probably beyond what they were thinking when practice began more than three weeks ago.

Rib Lake stayed undefeated Tuesday by sweeping rival Prentice 3-0 in the teams’ Marawood North opener. The first set could’ve gone either way, which has not been unusual for Rib Lake in this hot streak to start the season. But like all of the other close sets so far, the Redmen found a way to win it 25-23. Momentum took hold in set two and the Redmen rolled 25-19 and 25-17 to complete the sweep of the Buccaneers, who came into the match ranked fifth in the Division 5 poll.

“It’s insane,” senior Madilyn Blomberg said after the win. “You can just tell that we want it bad. Honestly I knew that we could take on any team if we play our game and we have not stopped playing our game the last couple of weeks.”

Head coach Heather Weik said while the streaks will likely end at some point, the important part is the team continuing to strive to get better and continuing to play team volleyball as they have thus far.

“When one girl had one bad move tonight, others stepped up to get those points,” Weik said. “It’s definitely been a team effort. I’m proud of them. I never expected to be 15-0 and 31-0 in sets.”

The Redmen fell behind 9-6 early in set one, got the lead back behind a serving run from Coralee Glenzer and held a 19-16 edge when Prentice got on a 6-1 spurt highlighted by a couple of kills from freshman outside hitter Leah Lord that put the Bucs in front 22-20.

After a timeout, Blomberg set up Megan Komarek for a kill and Blomberg rolled a kill over the block attempt by Prentice’s Lauren Geiger to tie it. An error gave Prentice a 23-22 lead, but Blomberg got a kill, Lord hit one too far and Madelyn Anderson got a block to seal Rib Lake’s 2523 win.

While the deficits in this set weren’t large, the knack for pulling out the close sets is a trait is big and is something Rib Lake hopes will continue.

“Last year I don’t know that we would’ve been able to do that,” Blomberg said. “Our endurance is better and we know we can come back from big deficits.”

“I’m super proud of the girls for not faltering in that, stepping up and persevering,” Weik said. “It’s going to be nothing but helpful for our future as we meet some of these tougher teams.”

Rib Lake jumped ahead 9-3 in game two and got it to 20-8, started by a Camryn Glenzer block of a back-row attack at 13-6. Tessa Weik got a kill, the Redmen got a big block against Lord and then Komarek went on a hitting spree with four kills.

The confidence Komarek and Anderson, both sophomores, are playing with this year compared to last year in the front row is quite noticeable.

“I can’t even put into words the growth I’ve seen,” Blomberg said. “Megan has become a completely different player. Madelyn has become a completely different player.”

“It’s crazy, with the intensity and the confidence we have now,” Komarek said. “We’re such a stronger team because we’ve bonded so much in this past year. We’re just excited for it. I think we have to give a lot of praise to our seniors. They run our back row, run our setting. They make us look a lot better.”

Prentice did make a run late in the second set behind some tough serves from Madisyn Freeman and two kills from Lord. Luca Blomberg’s ace made it 24-19, but Tessa Weik got the last word for Rib Lake, pushing a kill to the corner to end a scramble at the net.

Piper Heikkinen served two early aces to put Prentice up 3-0 in set three, but Rib Lake took the lead for good when two Camryn Glenzer kills made it 13-10. Anderson had a couple of late kills and Weik’s kill ended it.

“We came through with some blocks in that second set that made the biggest difference,” Heather Weik said. “I think we were just a little gun shy going up for blocks in the first set, I don’t know what it was. Once we read those hitters we were able to take care of it. But you have to give credit to Prentice. I thought Camryn did a great job stepping up and Madelyn is going to get her touches there too.”

“Our back row was so good,” Blomberg said. “As a setter, getting a good pass to give it to your hitters is such a key component.”

“Our setters give us good sets and it makes my job easy,” Komarek said.

Anderson and Tessa Weik led Rib Lake with 11 kills each. Komarek had eight and Blomberg had five. Weik and Blomberg had 16 assists each. Weik had 14 digs, Avery Niemi had 12 and Tahlia Scheithauer had 10. Coralee Glenzer had three of Rib Lake’s five aces.

Rib Lake will next head to Wisconsin Dells to take part in a two-day tournament at JustAGame Fieldhouse. The Redmen jump back into conference play Tuesday at Chequamegon.

3-0 at quad

Rib Lake was pushed in its first two matches Thursday but got through them and then buried Colby to finish off a 3-0 night at the Auburndale Quad.

The Redmen won each match in straight sets to keep its streak alive of not losing one so far this season. But they made it interesting in the four sets against Auburndale and Owen-Withee.

With a quick 5-1 spurt, the host Eagles took a 17-15 lead in game one, but just as quickly, Rib Lake answered. Digs by Scheithauer and Blomberg in the same rally got the first point back. Coralee Glenzer had two kills and Niemi served an ace to put the Redmen up 21-19. With Coralee Glenzer serving, Rib Lake went on another mini run that put it away at 25-21.

Auburndale tore out to a 10-1 lead in game two, but Rib Lake steadily chipped away and eventually caught the Eagles mid-game on a big serving run from Weik and grabbed a 17-16 lead. Weik had an ace and Camryn Glenzer and Blomberg added key kills in the run. Madelyn Anderson had four kills from the middle down the stretch and Rib Lake sealed the match with another 25-21 win.

Playing Owen-Withee for the second time in three days, Rib Lake found itself down 14-8 midway through the first set, but eventually evened things with a couple of Komarek kills during a Camryn Glenzer serving run. Two late Blackhawk errors sealed their fate in Rib Lake’s 25-22 win.

Two Komarek kills opened up a 12-9 lead in game two. Another one made it 1410. The lead got to six at 20-14, Owen-Withee scored four straight points, then a Weik kill and Coralee Glenzer ace stopped the Blackhawks’ momentum and Rib Lake completed the sweep at 25-21.

The first set against Colby was close until a six-point serving run from Weik made it 20-9. Camryn Glenzer had two key block kills in the run that sent Rib Lake to a 25-15 win. Camryn Glenzer served Rib Lake to a 10-2 lead in game two and Rib Lake had no trouble the rest of the way, winning 25-11.

Auburndale beat the other two teams in 2-1 matches. Owen-Withee was a three-set winner over Colby as well.