defense made it 21-12. Two ….
defense made it 21-12. Two points later, Medford was up 11 and on the verge of a win when the Eagles got on a run to pull within 23-19 before Wesle’s deep roll found a hole and Toryn Rau swatted a free ball and got the clinching kill in another 25-19 win.
“The only time I could complain a little bit was at the end of the second set when we just kept dangling the carrot,” Schreiner said. “We need to put the nail in the coffin there. Don’t wait for them to make a mistake. You need to finish it here.”
Medford did finish things in game three, though Pines made things interesting early, pulling away from an 8-8 tie to lead 15-11 before a big block by Hraby got the energy back in the gym. Two hitting errors by Pines, a Paulson kill to the deep corner and a Hraby ace put the Raiders ahead 16-15. The Eagles scored two points to regain the lead, but that was their last. Wesle punched a shot through a block to tie the set at 17-17, Miller hit the sideline with a kill, Paulson’s push found a hole, Miller was able to tool a shot off a blocker, Paulson ripped off two nasty serves and Pines hit a ball out of bounds to suddenly put the Raiders up 23-17. Cami Rau and Miller eventually hit winners that closed out the match at 25-22.
Miller had seven kills, 17 digs and an ace in the win. Schaefer had two aces, 13 assists and five digs. Paulson had six assists to go with four well-timed kills at key times, 13 digs and an ace. Medford had six aces while serving at a 96% success rate (70 of 73).
Rylee Hraby had a team-high 19 digs, Radlinger had 14 digs and Toryn Rau had three.
With the loss Northland Pines fell to 0-2 in the GNC and 5-10 overall.
Medford is back in action Saturday at Northland Pines for the first of two GNC meets this fall. Action starts at 10 a.m. and the Raiders are scheduled for a full day with matches against Tomahawk, Rhinelander and then Antigo.
“That’s going to be a long day for us,” Schreiner said. “We’ll see. You have that potential to play 15 sets possibly. But it’ll be fun.”
