Redmen fight through tough stretch

RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL

The toughest stretch of the schedule continued to be unrelenting this past week for Rib Lake’s young volleyball team, who dropped four matches to Marawood Conference opponents.

The latest defeat came Tuesday night at the hands of the Prentice Buccaneers, who are ranked seventh in this week’s Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Division 4 state poll. They improved to 28-6 with a 25-12, 25-20, 25-14 sweep of the Lady Redmen.

The loss put Rib Lake at 1-4 in Marawood Conference North matches for a second straight fifth-place finish. Prentice wound up in third place at 3-2.

Athens wrapped up the undisputed title Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep over Chequamegon, while Phillips continued to build up strength toward season’s end and claimed second place at 4-1 with a resounding sweep at Abbotsford, who finished fourth at 2-3.

The matchups are now set for Tuesday’s Marawood Conference Crossover Challenge in Marathon. Rib Lake will play Auburndale in the fifth-place match at 4 p.m.

Edgar and Athens will meet in the first-place match, Phillips gets Marathon, Prentice faces Newman Catholic, Abbotsford is matched up with Wisconsin Rapids Assumption and Chequamegon will play Stratford.

Before that, Rib Lake will try to find some success at Saturday’s Edgar Invitational, which starts at 9 a.m.

Rib Lake got its first dose of Marawood Conference Crossovers Saturday in Phillips. The Redmen went 0-3 for the day.

Auburndale beat Rib Lake 25-12, 25-14, Stratford was a 25-21, 25-14 winner and Marathon had no trouble winning 25-11, 25-5.

Phillips went 2-1 for the day, beating Marathon 2-1 and Stratford 2-0 and losing 2-1 to Auburndale. Prentice was a perfect 3-0, sweeping Stratford and Auburndale and edging Marathon 2-1.