MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL - OUTSIDE-IN FOR THE WIN

The outside experience was neat while it lasted Tuesday, but the Medford Raiders also said they won’t forget the indoor portion of their 3-0 volleyball sweep over Merrill.

Gorgeous late fall weather made Tuesday seem like the perfect night to attempt to play an outdoor match on Raider Field and through the JV match and the first set of the varsity match, all went according to plan.

But quickly as the teams switched sides and started set two, the sport court floor brought down from Rhinelander began experiencing condensation in the evening air and the decision was quickly made to move the match inside to Raider Hall.

There, the large and energetic student sections created a post-season type atmosphere, which the Raiders took advantage of in their convincing sweep that left both teams at 3-2 in Great Northern Conference play.

“We were very excited to be the second school, I think it was in Wisconsin, to do this,” senior setter Finley Arndt said. “It was pretty cool.”

“We were all looking forward to it all day, the adrenaline was crazy,” senior Laney Hraby said. “We snuck out during eighth hour and practiced on it. It was definitely something we were really looking forward to. It was tough to come inside, but it ended up working out better obviously.”

“It was a lot of fun,” said Taylor Klingbeil, who had a big night at the net for Medford with 11 kills and 12 total blocks, including seven solos, in the relatively short match. “The student section was big and loud. So that was really good.”

“I told the student section, that was like a 10 out of 10,” Hraby said. “Best atmosphere I think we’ve ever had.”

The Raiders jumped ahead quickly outside, grabbing a 7-0 lead. On the third point, a kill from Kayla Baumgartner off an Arndt assist, the match was stopped briefly to celebrate Arndt’s 1,000th career assist, a milestone she actually reached at Waupaca on Sept. 18 but had no idea she had done so.

“It’s crazy,” Arndt said. “It doesn’t feel like it should’ve happened. I told Kayla thank you.”

“She just knows where to put the ball,” said Klingbeil, the recipient of a good number of those assists. “She knows who’s hot and who to set at the right times.”

Sophia Steinman’s ace off the net and Kailyn Haenel’s kill off a Merrill block put Medford up 11-2 and the Raiders cruised from there to a 25-11 win in the first set.

Merrill was leading 5-2 in the second when play was halted and moved inside. The Blue Jays grabbed some momentum and took a 12-8 lead after a Kendell Klug ace, but Medford got a sideout, Hraby stepped up to the service line and 16 serves later, the Raiders were a 25-12 winner and holding a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

“That was a lot of fun,” Hraby said. “I said that was the most tired I’ve been in a long time. I just kept saying ‘over and in. We have to keep this rally going.’ We earned every one of those points. It was a lot of fun. I was really proud of our team there.”

Hannah Egle had a couple of key kills, Hraby had a couple of aces and Baumgartner had a monster kill from the back row, but Klingbeil was the focal point of that 17-0 run, dominating at the net, both with offensive attack and defensive blocks.

“Finley’s sets were good and they were having overpasses, which just led to more kills,” Klingbeil said. “The blocks were there. They were hitting into them. It was good.”

“Taylor was swinging so hard,” Arndt said. “She was so confident. We love to see that.”

Game three had a similar feel. Merrill took an 8-6 lead following three Grace Hoff aces, but a Baumgartner kill and a Haenel block tied it up, Laney Hraby’s save led to a Klingbeil win at the net and a 15-14 lead and Egle hit a deep roll to tie it at 16-16. This time, it was Pilgrim who went on a serving run. Baumgartner’s block broke the tie, Pilgrim served an ace, Baumgartner and Klingbeil had kills and Pilgrim ended a 10-0 run and the match at 25-16 with another ace.

“Obviously the sweep was great, but going to four wouldn’t have been bad just because it was so much fun,” Laney Hraby said.

Baumgartner had 10 kills and Egle added three. Arndt added 21 assists to her career total. Ruthie Steinman served an ace. Rylee Hraby had 11 digs and Laney Hraby had 10. Arndt had eight and Baumgartner had six.

Now 9-12 overall, the Raiders feel like they’ve been playing solid volleyball despite a 2-2 record in their last four matches. Hopefully that carries into October, which starts with a GNC match tonight, Thursday, with Rhinelander at Raider Hall at 7 p.m. and continues Saturday at the Eau Claire Memorial Invitational. Medford completes its GNC dual matches Tuesday at Tomahawk.

“We’re playing really good right now,” Klingbeil said. “We’ve been playing way better than we started off. We started off in a little slump and now we’re good.”