Royals end Rib Lake’s season for second straight fall

WIAA DIV. 4: ASSUMPTION 3, RIB LAKE 0

The Rib Lake volleyball team’s 2022 season ended Tuesday night in the same spot the 2021 season did with the team’s defeat at the hands of Wisconsin Rapids Assumption in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal.

Playing as the 12th seed in their half of the Gillett sectional bracket, the Lady Redmen were swept by the fifth-seeded Royals and saw their season end at 9-23, a slight improvement over last year’s 7-22 mark.

The Royals, who improved to 15-11 with a roster that features several experienced juniors and seniors, earned a 3-0 sweep in Tuesday’s match with set wins of 25-20, 25-11 and 25-12.

Statistics for the match weren’t yet available at press time Wednesday.

Assumption advances to a regional semifinal match tonight at fourth-seeded Tri-County, who handled 13th-seeded Northland Lutheran in a 3-0 sweep as well on Tuesday. Tonight’s winner likely gets a regional final matchup with topseeded and second-ranked Columbus Catholic on Saturday night.

Assumption also swept last year’s playoff match with Rib Lake, which was a matchup of sixth and 11th seeds. The Royals finished fourth this season in the Marawood South.

Rib Lake, hopefully, has a bright future ahead of it. Seven players on the varsity roster under second-year head coach Heather Weik were freshmen that teamed with four juniors and one senior in a season of learning against some strong competition in the Marawood North and South divisions. All four of the North teams that finished ahead of Rib Lake in the divisional standings advanced to regional semifinal matches.

The lone senior, Kamryn Annala, leaves the program after a season that earned her an honorable mention award in the Marawood North. She spent three years on the varsity roster. Freshmen Tessa Weik and Tahlia Scheithauer earned All-North second-team and honorable mention awards, respectively, and figure to be building blocks for the team moving forward.