Miller, Hrabys and Paulson net All-GNC volleyball awards
ALL-GNC VOLLEYBALL
After earning honorable mention for two seasons, Medford senior Martha Miller made the jump to the first team, while three more Raiders also were rewarded for their work this fall in the voting for the 2022 All-Great Northern Conference volleyball teams. While Miller landed on the sevenmember first team, senior Delaney Hraby turned a strong second half of the season into a spot on the second-team in her first full-time varsity season as did freshman libero Rylee Hraby. Senior Allie Paulson, a three-year varsity player, got honorable mention to close out her solid career on the volleyball court.
The awards follow a third-place finish this fall in the GNC for the Raiders. They were 7-5 in league play despite starting the year with a ton of varsity inexperience and finished 14-20 overall under sixth-year head coach Cheryl Schreiner. The Raiders won their WIAA Division 2 playoff opener in four sets over Clintonville, before they ran into GNC champion Tomahawk in the regional semifinal round. The Hatchets went 30-8 this season and made it to the WIAA Division 2 sectional final round, where they were swept by an impressive Appleton Xavier squad, who is the top seed in this weekend’s WIAA Division 2 state tournament in Green Bay.
Tomahawk went 12-0 in league play led by their senior force in the middle Meghan Scholz, who was an easy choice as the GNC’s Player of the Year. She led the conference by averaging 4.4 kills per game and 1.3 blocks per game she led the league in attack percentage at .527 with just 22 errors in 256 total attacks in 12 league matches. The Hatchets won all 36 of their GNC sets in 2022 and ended Mosinee’s 60-match GNC winning streak early in the year and the Indians’ fiveyear reign atop the conference.
Miller, the Raiders’ left side hitter when she rotated to the front row led the conference by averaging 4.4 digs per set (198 total) and ranked second in the conference in serve percentage at 95.7%. She had just five errors in 116 GNC serves in 41 sets played.
Miller put down 98 kills in league play, good for 2.4 per set which tied her for fifth in the conference with Lakeland’s Callie Ullius. Miller ranked 11th in attack percentage at .148 with 41 errors in her league-leading 386 total attacks.
Miller had 11 kills and 15 digs in a 3-1 loss at Mosinee early in the season on Sept. 6. She had 18 kills in a 3-0 sweep at Antigo on Oct. 4 and added four aces and 16 digs in that win. She had 12 kills and 21 digs in another 3-1 loss to Mosinee on Oct. 8 and had a strong night in a lengthy 3-2 loss to Lakeland on Oct. 11, recording 10 kills, 28 digs, a solo block and 15 of 15 serving.
Along with Miller and Scholz, the 2022 first team includes unanimous picks Alexis Jonas of Mosinee and Tomahawk libero Samantha Gebauer, Lakeland’s outstanding junior hitter Meg Pfannerstill, Tomahawk senior Mackenzie Scholz and Mosinee junior MaKayla Weisner. Antigo’s Jesse Knetter was named the Coach of the Year.
Delaney Hraby made some of the most notable strides among Raiders playing their first year of varsity ball. She wound up leading the league in save percentage, finishing just ahead of Miller at 97.2%. She had only four errors in 144 league serves and added 18 aces. As the season went on, she emerged as a go-to option for Medford’s setters and ranked fourth in the GNC in attack percentage at .215 with 71 kills and only 24 errors in 219 total attacks. Her 1.7 kills per set ranked 12th amongst league leaders.
Hraby had 13 solo blocks and nine block assists in conference play as well as 26 digs.
She registered a season-high 11 kills to go with two solo blocks, two aces and five digs in Medford’s 3-1 win over Northland Pines on Oct. 8. Hraby had eight kills, three aces and was 14 for 14 in serving at Antigo on Oct. 4 and had seven kills and two solo blocks in a home loss to Tomahawk on Sept. 29. She had a big night in Medford’s regional win over Clintonville with 11 kills, seven digs, a solo block and 18 of 19 serving with three aces.
Rylee Hraby moved up from the JV level in the season’s first week and ably filled a team need at the libero position. Her steady play and passing in the back row gained the attention of conference coaches. Hraby finished fourth in the conference rankings by averaging 3.3 digs per set with 134 total. Serving was one of Medford’s top team strengths in 2022 and Hraby played a role in that with seven aces in 64 conference serves.
Hraby had 19 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Northland Pines on Sept. 13, 18 digs in a 3-0 win at Lakeland on Sept. 1, 17 digs in the late-season loss to Lakeland and 15 in the team’s first loss to Tomahawk on Sept. 17.
Paulson was a do-it-all talent for Medford, hitting and setting from the right side, serving her fair share of aces and also teaming up with Megan Schaefer as the club’s primary setters. Paulson ranked seventh in the league with 2.9 assists per set. She had 117 assists in 41 sets played. Schaefer averaged 4.1 assists per set to rank fifth in the league.
Paulson had 60 kills in league play, 20 aces and just nine errors in 144 serves
(93.8%), 101 digs and two solo blocks.
Paulson had 13 kills and 11 assists in the Sept. 1 win at Lakeland and nine kills, 10 assists and three aces in the Oct.
11 rematch. She had eight kills and 20 assists in the Oct. 8 win over Pines. In her final home match, she had a big night in the regional win over Clintonville with
13 kills, 14 assists, four aces and 22 digs with one serving error in 17 attempts.
Delaney Hraby Second Team
Rylee Hraby Second Team
Allie Paulson Hon. Mention
