Raiders energize the gym
Marathon takes the charge out of W-B squad
By Casey Krautkramer
Marathon’s varsity volleyball team took care of business on Thursday by beating Wittenberg-Birnamwood in straight sets at home.
The Red Raiders defeated the Chargers, 25-19, in the first set; 25-21 in the second set and 25-19 in the third set to win the non-conference match.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood lost some key contributors to graduation from last season’s state tournament squad, but nonetheless, Marathon’s match win on Thursday should give the Red Raiders confidence knowing they can beat a school that was so successful on the volleyball court just last year.
Marathon’s student section cheered loudly for the team to give it a true “home advantage.” The student section formed a line to clap hands with every volleyball player after the win.
Red Raiders senior right side hitter Taylor Lepak was excited about the team’s big match victory against the Chargers.
“I would say the key to beating Wittenberg- Birnamwood was the energy, not just from the crowd but from our bench,” Lepak said. “Every player on our team bench was standing and cheering. The energy in the gym was insane.”
Besides Lepak, the following are Marathon’s other top returning volleyball players this season: Senior middle hitter Ava Krueger, senior out-side hitter Lauren Karlen, senior defensive specialist Emily Knoeck and junior libero Katie LeBlanc.
Nicole Schneider and Lynelle Love return as Marathon’s co-head varsity volleyball coaches this season. Paige (Wirkus) Koch is the school’s JV1 coach and Rhiana (Sweno) Seubert is the JV2 coach.
Krueger is a four-year varsity starting volleyball player who is clearly the team’s leader this year. Schneider is expecting Krueger will have a great final high school season on the volleyball court.
“Ava has officially committed to play volleyball at UW-Oshkosh next fall,” she said. “Ava is a phenomenal player and teammate. She will do great things this year and be a great leader for our team. Ava is a six rotation player and a top statistical leader in every area of the game. Our team looks up to Ava and feeds off her energy and optimism.”
Marathon’s top newcomers to this year’s varsity squad are senior setter Ashley Gertschen, junior setter Chenpieng Phakitthong and sophomore middle hitter Emma Love.
Schneider outlined the Marathon volleyball team’s goals this season.
“Our main goal this year is to be able to play through adversity and compete during practice and in every game in order to better ourselves and our program,” she said. “Our program’s philosophy has always been ‘family’ and we want to continue that tradition this year and be able to compete with top teams. During each game, we also want to be able to serve aggressively to help us win points and to bring energy to each game.”
Lepak believes the following is the key to keep winning matches this season: “We need to have the same energy that we had in beating Wittenberg-Birnamwood,” she said. “We need to have confidence in each other and good communication with each other, knowing that if someone calls for the ball to let her have it and take the next ball when you can.”
