Lady Redmen get two wins as regular season winds down

RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL

The Rib Lake volleyball team played an inspired first set during their Marawood Conference Crossover Challenge match Tuesday, but that wound up inspiring the Assumption Royals, who went on a three-game tear the Lady Redmen could not stop in a 3-1 loss Tuesday at Marathon.

The fifth-place crossover match featured two teams that just met on Oct. 2 in Edgar –– with Assumption getting a two-game sweep –– and will meet for a third time Tuesday in Wisconsin Rapids in the first round of the WIAA Division 4 regional tournament. Assumption is the sixth seed in the sectional half-bracket while Rib Lake is the 11th seed.

After securing the 25-21 first-set win, Rib Lake scored only 25 more points in the last three sets combined as the Royals’ serving took over the match, getting the Redmen out of system and reduced the percentage of solid attacks Rib Lake was able to put together in the first game.

The Redmen forced Assumption to take an early timeout in the opening set by jumping ahead 9-3. The Royals went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-9 lead, but Rib Lake regrouped and eventually tied things back up at 16-16 on a Molly Heiser ace. Two Assumption errors and another Heiser ace put Rib Lake up 19-16.

“Molly Heiser continues to help us out at the service line with strong serves and off balls for the opposing team,” Rib Lake head coach Heather Weik said.

Josie Scheithauer got a touch as the lead got to 23-17. Lauren Pelnis beat the Royals’ Autumn Moon at the net for a key point that made it 24-18 and Kamryn Annala’s tip kill sealed the four-point win.

“We came out ready to battle,” Weik said. “We were putting all the pieces together with our serve receive, sets and hits. Our communication was strong and we had some great chemistry. Serve receive then got the best of us in our losses.”

The strong defense Rib Lake played in set one started falling apart when Assumption’s Anna Schooley went on an eight-point serving run in game two that put the Royals up 15-4. Ava Schill and Moon added aces before Rhonnie Jo Scheithauer got a touch on a long attack for one of Rib Lake’s final points in a 2510 loss.

Schooley got on another killer serving run in game three after an Emily Rodman winner for Rib Lake made it 9-2. By the time Schooley missed a serve, it was 18-3. Assumption won the set 25-4.

Rib Lake scored the first two points of game four, but Moon dominated at the net in a 15-3 surge that put Assumption in control of what would eventually be a 25-11 win for the Royals that ended the match.

Both teams went 1-4 in their respective divisions of the Marawood Conference. Rib Lake finished the regular season with an 8-21 record, while Assumption is 11-11. The winner of Tuesday’s WIAA regional match will likely play third-seeded Edgar in the Oct. 21 regional semifinal round. The Wildcats host 14th-seeded Loyal in their opener Tuesday. Eastern Cloverbelt Conference champion Columbus Catholic is the half-sectional’s top seed, while Athens is the two-seed.

Athens beat Edgar in a five-set thriller Tuesday in the Marawood’s second-place match. Marathon rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat North champion Phillips 3-2 in the championship match, Abbotsford swept Newman Catholic in the third-place match and Prentice swept Stratford in the fourth-place battle as the divisions split the day’s six matches.

Edgar Invite

Rib Lake went 1-2 at Saturday’s Edgar Invitational, falling to Marawood Conference rivals Auburndale and Abbotsford before sweeping Bruce 25-12, 25-18 to finish the day.

“Bruce was a nice win for our team,” Weik said. “We were able to play the entire roster and Isabella Fallos got her first kill on varsity. We struggled behind the serving line, but we still held strong at the net.”

Auburndale swept the opening match 25-12, 25-12 and Abbotsford took the second-round match 25-13, 25-19.

“Josie Scheithauer is showing great improvement with her net play,” Weik said. “She is getting a lot of touches and had four kills against Auburndale. Our team totaled 21 digs in the two sets, but lost out on points due to hitting errors.

“We came within striking distance against Abbotsford in our second game,” she added. “Emily Rodman, Danielle Mann and Kamryn Annala all matched for three kills apiece.”

Conference win

Rib Lake got its lone Marawood North win of the fall Thursday by beating host Chequamegon 3-1.

Adversity hit the Redmen early when senior outside hitter Emma Winter became the team’s second major injury casualty of the season when she hurt her knee in pre-match warm-ups.

“Lauren Pelnis stepped up and played in her outside hitter position,” Weik said. “She contributed with five kills and scored a lot of point-finding gaps on the opposing side. Josie Scheithauer had some great net play with several block attempts keeping the ball in play for us. Molly Heiser set really well with 14 assists on the night.”

Rib Lake took the first set 25-17, but Chequamegon came back with a 25-21 win in the second set. But the Lady Redmen rallied after that, winning 25-19 and 25-20.

“Our loss was the result of several missed serves and serve receives,” Weik said.

Mann and Scheithauer had four kills each, while Rodman and Annala added three apiece.