T-Birds top Medford in 5-set finale; Raiders start tourney play Tuesday

MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL

The Medford Raiders opened their Great Northern Conference schedule with a 3-0 sweep at Lakeland on Sept. 1, but the Thunderbirds ended it by getting some revenge in a 3-2 thriller in Tuesday’s Senior Night and Cancer Awareness Night match at Raider Hall.

All-GNC outside hitter Meg Pfannerstill was a force Medford could not consistently get under control and she had help, especially from outside hitter Callie Ullius and middle Stina Peterson. While the Raiders served well and scrapped well defensively to stay in it, the entire match seemed like an uphill climb and the Raiders just never got over the top.

“I felt like we couldn’t put the whole game together tonight,” head coach Cheryl Schreiner said after the loss. “When our passing was on, our front row was a little off and vice versa. I thought we served well, we served tough. They never hung their heads. They fought the whole way through. It’s one we just learn from.

“Both sides played such good scrappy volleyball,” she added. “There were some rallies where the girls were pulling balls out of the bleachers and just by the crowd reactions you could tell that it was an enjoyable match for the crowd.”

With the loss, Medford finished 7-5 in the GNC, good for third place, a game ahead of 6-6 Lakeland. Tomahawk knocked Mosinee off its five-year perch atop the league by going 12-0, while Mosinee finished 10-2.

The Raiders are 13-19 overall heading into the WIAA Division 2 post-season tournament, which starts Tuesday. Seeding for the sectional half-bracket took place Wednesday night after this week’s deadline for The Star News.

Pfannerstill’s first major impact in the match actually came with her serving in game one. She served a couple of aces during the key run that broke open a 9-9 tie and put Lakeland ahead 14-9. The Raiders got within 17-16 on a Martha Miller kill, but Lakeland went back up by four at 22-18 and 23-19. The Raiders made another run, getting within 23-22, but Lakeland got winners from Caitlin Johnson and Ullius to draw first blood at 25-22.

The Raiders controlled game two virtually end to end to even things up. The key surge pushed the lead from 9-8 to 16-10 and then it grew to 21-13 following a Miller kill off a Wesle assist and an Allie Paulson ace. Rylee Hraby served out the last couple of points as Medford won 25-16.

Lakeland got rolling early in game three, building a 15-5 lead that was too much for Medford to overcome. The Raiders did close the gap to five a couple of times before falling 25-18.

Lakeland also took early control in game four, building an 8-4 lead behind three kills and a block from Pfannerstill.

“(Pfannerstill) played really well tonight,” Schreiner said. “Kudos to her. We tried to cheat a block a little bit and thought maybe we could take something away from her. She’s a good player. You can’t take anything away from her. The first time we played them we did a pretty good job of keeping them out of system, so they couldn’t use her quite as much. Tonight they were in system a little bit more and used her when they needed to.”

Toryn Rau turned the tide a bit for Medford with back-to-back blocks in the middle. Shayla Radlinger came off the bench and deflected an attack off a block to put Medford in front 10-9. Lakeland went back ahead by four on several occasions, but at 20-16, the Raiders made their move, starting with another Rau block.

“I thought our blocking came along later in the match,” Schreiner said. “We didn’t block well in the first game, but by the third and fourth our blocking was really coming along. We moved Toryn to the middle versus right or left side. She has such a vertical and she can put up such a wall for a block. Rachel Wesle on that right side can put up such a block and she has those setter hands to take that next ball. It’s just a switch we made for tonight and it’s probably going to stay that way.”

Radlinger got another kill and Rylee Hraby served a couple of aces as Medford stormed into a 23-21 lead. Delaney Hraby’s kill capped a 25-22 win that sent the match to the decisive fifth game.

“Rylee got behind the line and she did a really nice job of keeping her composure back there and just putting the ball in tough spots for them to receive,” Schreiner said. “She had a couple of aces in that last run in the win in the fourth set, which is nice to see. She’s really developing nicely as a freshman.”

The Raiders got out to a 3-1 lead in the fifth set, but a 6-0 Lakeland run put the T-Birds ahead for good. The Raiders got within 7-5 on a Miller kill, but the T-Birds went on a 6-2 spurt to go up 13-7 and they clinched it at 15-8 on a Johnson tip.

The night’s events raised $1,397 for Taylor County Moving For a Cure.

GNC meet #2

Medford went 1-1 in Saturday’s Great Northern Conference meet hosted by Rhinelander.

The Raiders started the day by pushing Mosinee to four games for the second time this season before falling to the Indians.

Mosinee blew through Medford 25-12 in game one, but things changed in the second set when the Raiders got off to a solid start, pushing ahead 8-4 on a Delaney Hraby ace and 11-6 after a pair of kills from Miller. Mosinee got back within 11-10, but the Raiders got a kill from Megan Schaefer and a Rylee Hraby ace to go back up 14-10.

The Indians slowly worked their way back to a 20-19 lead, but a couple of Miller kills helped Medford retake the lead 2220. Mosinee tied it on a Maggie Woller tip, but Toryn Rau came up with a big shot, rolling one just over the net that the Indians hit out of bounds. Two more Mosinee errors allowed Medford to tie the match at a set apiece with a 25-22 win.

The Raiders got out to another good start in the third set, leading 7-4, but things turned shortly after that with a 10-2 run by Mosinee giving the Indians a 14-9 lead. Medford clawed its way back to a 20-20 tie and ties at 21 and 22, but MaKayla Weisner hit two winners for Mosinee and she added the clinching tip as the Indians took the pivotal set 25-23.

The Raiders led the fourth set 6-3 after a Delaney Hraby ace, but that set went south on a big serving run by Mosinee libero Addison Vaughn that included a couple of aces and put Mosinee up 168. The lead grew to 22-12 and 24-14. The Raiders got on a little three-point run but Malina Carattini’s kill finished it at 25-17.

Miller had 12 kills to pace Medford, while Delaney Hraby had seven and Cami Rau added five. Schaefer had 15 assists and Paulson had 12. Delaney Hraby had three of Medford’s six aces. Miller had 21 digs, while Rylee Hraby and Schaefer had 14 each.

After a bye, Medford took on Northland Pines, looking to complete a season sweep of the Eagles.

The Raiders got off to a solid start with a 25-19 win, but Pines evened things up with a 25-15 win in set two.

The next two sets were close, but Medford got the key points late in each of them to hold off Pines 27-25 and 25-23 to take the match.

Delaney Hraby had 11 attack kills, while Miller had nine, Paulson added eight and Cami Rau put down seven kills. DeLana Radlinger had three of Medford’s seven aces. Delaney Hraby had two. Toryn Rau and Delaney Hraby had two solo blocks each. Miller had three assisted blocks and a team-high 20 digs. Paulson had 16 digs, while Rylee Hraby, Schaefer and Radlinger had seven apiece.

Medford’s Allie Paulson pushes the volleyball past Lakeland blockers Caitlin Johnson (2) and Brooklyn Pesava during the first set of Tuesday’s match.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS