MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL - Raiders hit early rough patch, win a good one with Antigo
A week-long break from competition may have come at a perfect time for the Medford volleyball team, who struggled to find consistency Saturday and did again on Tuesday, when they were swept 3-0 at Lakeland in a somewhat surprising Great Northern Conference result.
Even with the return of Kayla Baumgartner from injury, who gave Medford 10 kills in front-row duty, the Raiders never hit a spot in the match where the momentum was truly theirs for an extended period of time. The Thunderbirds, led by their senior hitter Ava Evenhouse, pounced on the opportunity to knock off the defending GNC co-champs and they now hold the top spot in the standings very early in the title chase at 2-0.
Now 1-1 in the GNC and 7-10 overall, Medford doesn’t play again until Tuesday. It’ll be a tough one at Raider Hall against the other defending co-champion, Mosinee, who is 18-3 so far this season and ranked third in the Division 2 in this week’s Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association state poll. After that, Medford travels Sept. 18 to face a solid Waupaca squad in non-conference action and then hopes to stage an outdoor GNC match Sept. 19 on Raider Field against Rhinelander, if weather permits.
As head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron said after Tuesday’s loss, there is nowhere to go now but up.
“We have a big week,” she said. “They’ll be back in the gym, ready to work hard as next week we have two tough games and an exciting game on the turf.”
The first omen Tuesday might not be Medford’s night was cast immediately when the Raiders fell behind 8-0 in the first set. They didn’t quit, creeping within 20-16 following a Laney Hraby ace and then 21-18 after a Taylor Klingbeil winner off an attempted block by the T-Birds and a Lakeland error. But Lexi Grindorff and Allyson Seaberg each had a kill and Evenhouse served two aces to cap Lakeland’s 25-18 win.
Though not by as much, Medford played from behind for most of the second set as well. The Raiders led 12-11 after a big kill from Baumgartner, but later trailed 1914 and at 22-17 before making a run. Baumgartner tooled a blocker to start it. Her successful roll made it 23-19. Laney Hraby’s ace cut it to 23-21 before Lakeland got to game point. Medford fought that off with Baumgartner’s winner, a kill from Klingbeil and a Lakeland error. A missed serve by the T-Birds tied it again at 25-25, but two Medford errors allowed Lakeland to win it 27-25.
The one time Medford had momentum was the start of game three. The Raiders jumped ahead 8-0 and 10-2 before the TBirds starting chipping away and getting their home crowd back into it. A four-point Lakeland run cut an 18-13 Medford lead to one. After a Klingbeil kill and Hannah Egle ace, the T-Birds scored four straight to take a 21-20 lead. A missed serve tied it, but the T-Birds scored four straight, capped by an Addie Farah kill off the top of the net to complete the sweep at 25-21.
Klingbeil had nine kills, Avery Losiewicz had four and Finley Arndt and Kailyn Haenel had two each for Medford. The Raiders had 27 hitting errors in the match. Haenel was credited with two solo blocks and three total blocks. Laney Hraby had three of Medford’s seven aces, while Aliyah Pilgrim had two.
Arndt had 25 assists and had nine digs to tie Rylee Hraby for the team lead. Laney Hraby had seven and Pilgrim had six.
2-2 at Marshfield
Medford had a tough time in pool play at Saturday’s seven-team Marshfield Invitational but did finish strong in consolation action to finish in fifth place with a 2-2 record.
The Raiders beat Mondovi 25-12, 25-21 and earned their second win over Antigo in three days, 25-18, 25-22 to finish the tournament, which was won by the host Tigers. Abbotsford swept Medford 2-0 and Ladysmith beat the Raiders 2-1 in pool play and those two teams advanced to the championship bracket, where Ladysmith beat Abbotsford 2-1 in the third-place match. Ladysmith beat Abbotsford 2-0 in the opening pool.
Marshfield beat Shawano in the championship match.
Against Antigo, Klingbeil and Egle had seven kills apiece and Haenel had five. Arndt had 18 assists, while Rylee Hraby had four. Pilgrim had four of Medford’s seven aces. The Raiders had just two service errors in 44 attempts. Rylee Hraby had 11 digs, Egle had six and Arndt had five.
In the Mondovi win, Losiewicz put down nine attack kill in 13 attempts, Egle had four kills and Sophia Steinman had three. Arndt had 17 assists and Pilgrim had two aces. Klingbeil and Haenel were tough to beat at the net, registering five and four solo blocks, respectively. Arndt had two as well. Rylee Hraby had nine digs, Arndt had six and Egle had four.
The day started with a 25-21, 25-23 loss to Abbotsford. They led the Falcons 8-6 in set one before serve receive troubles put the Raiders in a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Riley Podevels and Faith Sperl each had multiple aces in a run that put Abbotsford up 19-10. Arndt got Medford back into it with three straight aces. The Raiders got within 23-21. Abbotsford jumped ahead 11-2 in set two and led 24-16 after a Sperl ace when Medford made a frantic last push during a serving run from Rylee Hraby. They got within 24-23 before losing a long rally for the final point.
Arndt had four aces, 10 assists and five digs. Klingbeil had five kills, while Haenel had four. Rylee Hraby had 14 digs.
Medford led game one against Ladysmith 12-9 but a mid-game slump cost them in a 25-18 loss. The Raiders played a solid second set and tore out to a 20-9 lead. That run was capped by three Klingbeil kills and an Egle ace. Ladysmith, however, made a run, getting within 23-21 before Medford finished it at 25-21 with kills from Haenel and Klingbeil.
But the Lumberjacks carried that momentum into set three, taking leads of 10-5 and 13-7 before winning it 15-11.
Egle and Rylee Hraby were credited with seven kills each, while Losiewicz and Pilgrim had six each. Rylee Hraby had 17 digs and Egle had nine. Arndt had 21 assists. She and Laney Hraby had two aces each. Klingbeil had four solo blocks.
Medford 3, Antigo 1
Wins over Antigo are rarely easily achieved and Thursday’s GNC opener at Raider Hall was no exception. Several stepped up to fill the gap left by Baumgartner’s absence. Haenel, Losiewicz, Egle and Sophia Steinman supported Klingbeil in the front row with timely kills and the back row was tremendous throughout in Medford’s 3-1 win over the Red Robins.
The teams split the first two sets with the winner in each rallying from a midgame deficit. Medford seized control early in sets three and four and didn’t let those leads slip away.
Both teams’ back rows dug up ball after ball in those first two sets, resulting in plenty of lengthy rallies.
Antigo led game one 18-12 following a Bailey Heinzen ace. Rylee Hraby’s hard roll found a hole, sparking Medford’s comeback. Steinman got a kill, Arndt served an ace and, after four ties, Medford finally took the lead at 22-21. Klingbeil hit the line with a kill, Laney Hraby served an ace and Klingbeil finished the 25-22 with a kill off an attempted Antigo block.
Haenel had a block and a kill on backto- back points to put Medford up 15-11 in game two, but Antigo scored the next four points and, after an Egle kill, Heinzen put down two straight kills to give the Robins a 17-16 lead. From there, the teams traded points all the way to Medford getting to game point for the third time at 28-27. Antigo’s Layla Hardman got a block kill against Haenel, her bump off a hard spike from Haenel dropped on Medford’s side of the net and a net violation on the Raiders gave Antigo the 30-28 win.
Egle had two early kills and Losiewicz connected on three as Medford jumped ahead 12-4 in game three. The Raiders never trailed in the set, but Antigo did creep within 20-16. Then, Heinzen made a tough save on Haenel’s attack, but the ball went right back to Haenel for an easy point at the net. Steinman got a tip, Arndt had an ace and the Raiders got their final point of a 25-19 win off a Haenel attack.
Steinman and Haenel had kills in a run that put Medford up 11-6 in game four. Rylee Hraby bumped a set to Egle for a backline kill at 13-6 and she hit the back line again at 16-10. The lead got to 23-13. A Haenel kill and a clinching kill from Klingbeil on a point started by Pilgrim’s diving dig, ended it at 25-17.
