RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL - Streaks end at the Dells; Rib Lake takes care of Chequamegon

With its impressive season-opening streaks broken and its full lineup back together, the Rib Lake volleyball team got back down to business Tuesday, sweeping host Chequamegon to go to 2-0 in the Marawood North and earn its 19th win of this season. The Screaming Eagles are an improved team compared to recent seasons and came into Tuesday’s match with a winning overall record. But Rib Lake was simply too strong up front, set up by its back row and had fewer errors than the Eagles (0-2, 10-9) while pulling away for convincing wins in each set. Offensively Tessa Weik and Megan Komarek led Rib Lake with nine and eight kills respectively. Weik had no errors in 22 swings, plus she had two blocks. Chequamegon couldn’t contain Madelyn Anderson, especially when she got quick sets, and she finished with seven kills while being involved in three blocks. Coralee Glenzer added five kills. Weik had five service aces, while Komarek had three. Weik and Madilyn Blomberg had 10 assists each, while Komarek and Tahlia Scheithauer had three apiece. Scheithauer, who missed the weekend tournament in Wisconsin Dells, got right back into form with a team-high 12 digs. Blomberg had nine and Camryn Glenzer had seven. Set one was close early at 10-8 when Rib Lake started pulling away. Komarek got a kill, then Avery Niemi’s save led to another Komarek kill. Komarek’s third kill of the run, plus a Weik ace made it 16-9. The Eagles clawed back within 20-15 when Weik buried a cross-court kill and added another winner. Anderson had a block as Rib Lake closed out a 25-15 win. The game-two score was 8-7 when the Redmen started to separate. Weik’s push found a hole in the back of Chequamegon’s defense and Niemi’s save led to a point to get the run started. Blomberg got on a serving run later in the set that included three kills from Coralee Glenzer and ended with Rib Lake leading 22-13. The Redmen eventually won the set 25-16. After giving up the first three points of set three, Rib Lake dominated, steadily working toward a 22-9 lead. The Eagles got on a mini-run late, but Blomberg’s kill emphatically ended it at 25-13. Rib Lake (19-4) will compete in the Spencer Invitational Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. On Tuesday, the Redmen will host a match that could go a long way toward determining this year’s Marawood North title when they host Abbotsford at 7 p.m. A good Edgar squad is in town Sept. 25 for a non-conference match. 3-4 at the Dells Rib Lake’s season-opening match win streak hit 16 and the set win streak hit 33 before eventual champion Mineral Point knocked off the Redmen Friday in a threeset battle. Rib Lake got to Saturday’s quarterfinals before a three-match skid knocked it into an eighth-place finish at the JustAGame Invitational in Wisconsin Dells. Overall, the Redmen went 3-4 in the two-day, 16-team tournament. It started Friday evening with Rib Lake going 2-1 in its pool to earn the sixth seed going into Saturday’s bracket play. The Redmen rolled past Rio 25-10, 2514 behind eight kills from Komarek and five apiece from Weik, Camryn Glenzer and Anderson and then faced Mineral Point, now the state’s 10th-ranked team in Division 3 and a state qualifier last year in Division 4, in one of the best matches of the tournament. Led by a pair of top-notch hitters in Maddy Kabat and Brynn Swenson, the Pointers nudged out to a three-point lead midway through the first set, but Rib Lake hung in there and eventually tied it at 2121 on a Komarek kill and took a 23-21 lead on another Komarek kill. Kabat had two big kills to give Mineral Point game point. Blomberg’s kill off a block tied it at 24-24, but a Kabat kill and an error resulted in a 26-24 final and Rib Lake’s first set loss of the fall. Rib Lake got out to a 15-11 lead in game two, the Pointers went on a 9-4 spurt to tie it at 20-20 on a Kabat kill and the Pointers tied it again at 22-22 on a Tenleigh Backhop ace. But this time, Rib Lake finished strong, getting assists from Blomberg on kills from Camryn Glenzer and Komarek. Coralee Glenzer’s ace capped the 25-22 win. Rib Lake led game three 2-1, but an 8-1 run by the Pointers put them in front for good and they won it 15-7 to take the match. Serving was a key as Mineral Point had 12 aces compared to Rib Lake’s three. Komarek had seven kills, Anderson and Weik had six each and Blomberg had five. Blomberg had 11 assists and Weik had 10. Weik had 11 digs and Niemi had seven. Rib Lake bounced back with a solid 2520, 25-12 sweep of Bangor to earn the sixth seed going into Saturday’s bracket play. Coralee Glenzer sered up five of Rib Lake’s nine aces against the Cardinals. Camryn Glenzer and Weik had two each. Anderson had eight kills. Coralee Glenzer and Weik had eight digs each. In Saturday’s opening round, the Redmen were in firm control and swept Hillsboro 25-16, 25-16. Komarek had six kills, while Weik and Anderson had five each in that win. Camryn Glenzer had two blocks and Blomberg had two aces. Weik and Komarek had six digs each. That win set up a quarterfinal match with Green Bay Preble, the lone Division 1 team in the tournament. Game one was a back-and-forth battle that the Hornets grabbed control of in the later stages, pulling ahead 22-16. Rib Lake got within 22-20 after Weik’s hard push fell, Anderson got a block and Coralee Glenzer put down a kill. Anderson’s kill made it 2321 and Komarek’s back-row attack made it 24-22, but Preble got the next point to win 25-22. The Hornets got out to leads of 7-0, 13-5 and 18-8 in game two. Rib Lake made a run to get within 18-14 but that was as close as the Redmen got and they fell 2517. The loss knocked Rib Lake into the placement bracket for fifth through eighth place. The Redmen got into another of the tournament’s best matches there when they met the Florence Bobcats. Florence took the first set 25-17, Rib Lake countered 25-20 and that sent to match to a third set. Florence jumped ahead 5-0, Rib Lake answered with a 7-0 run and from there, it was about as close as it could get. Rib Lake threatened to win it when it got to a 13-11 lead and then Komarek’s kill did get the Redmen to game point at 14-12. A block and an ace tied it. Camryn Glenzer won at the net to get Rib Lake back to game point. A desperation save by Florence fell on Rib Lake’s side of the net to tie it at 15. Anderson’s two kills gave Rib Lake game points again, but Florence fought them off and scored the last three points to win it 19-17. Anderson had nine kills against the Bobcats, Weik had eight and Komarek had six. Weik had 10 assists and Blomberg had nine. Weik, Camryn Glenzer and Komarek served two aces each. Dig totals were high. Coralee Glenzer had 16, Weik and Camryn Glenzer had 11 each and Komarek and Blomberg had 10 apiece. In the match for seventh place, Cochrane-Fountain City pulled away from a 15-15 tie in the first set and won it 25-18. The Pirates took an early fourpoint lead in game two. Rib Lake eventually caught them at 20-20 and tied them three more times but couldn’t push ahead, gave up the final two points and lost it 25-23. Weik had three aces, three kills and six assists. Anderson had six kills and Blomberg had seven assists. Niemi led with nine digs. Coralee Glenzer had eight. Weik was named to the 20-member All-Tournament team. Mineral Point capped a 7-0 weekend by beating Preble 25-21, 25-18 in the championship match. Bangor, who was 1-2 on day one, rallied on day two and got all the way up to third place, beating Alma-Pepin in its final match. Madison Abundant Life defeated Florence 25-18, 25-18 in the fifth-place match.