Falcons take first conference loss at Prentice
The Abbotsford volleyball team went 3-3 over the past week, winning three of their five matches in a tournament held in Marshfield on September 3 and then suffering a loss in their first conference match against the Prentice Buccaneers.
Prentice, 1-3
The varsity team traveled to Prentice Tuesday evening to take on their conference foes. Going into the match, the Buccaneers were 10-1, having suffered their only loss against an undeafeted Athens team. The Falcons held tough, but ultimately fell to the pirates in four sets.
Prentice managed to build an early lead by taking the first set of the match. The game was relatively close, but the Buccaneers were able to ultimately channel more runs together to build a decent lead and take the set 25-18.
The second set was a bit closer, but the Falcons still could not muster enough break points to push the game into their favor, falling 20-25.
With the match on the line, the Falcons put together their best performance of the night in the third set. They came out on top in a nailbitter that went to 28 points, pushing the match to a fourth set. Abbotsford couldn’t quite finish the rally, however, and fell in the fourth set 25-16.
The tough loss shows how competitve the Marawood conference is setting up to be. Phillips, Athens, and Prentice have a combined 25-2 record so far this season and Abbotsford will likely have to beat both the Loggers and the Blue Jays to have a shot at the conference title.
Marshfield Tournament The Falcons also took part in a tournament held this past Saturday in Marshfield. The team took third overall after going 3-2 in their five matches played.
Abbotsford started off strong, defeating Antigo 25-20 and 25-12 to take the match in two sets. The Falcons were especially dominant in the second game, where after a 6-5 start, they took over and went on a 19-7 run to defeat the Red Robins. Junior Sydney Falteisek led the Falcons with four kills over the match and senior Haylee Soyk and junior Briselda Escalara added three of their own. Junior Sommer Brodhagen and Falteisek both had two aces from the service line and senior Adrianna Fuentes led the team with five digs.
The Falcons then took on Ashwaubenon, a team that they had defeated the weekend prior. Abbotsford once again emerged the victors, taking down the Jaguars in straight sets, 25-16 and 25-19. Soyk was the main source of offense in the match, recording eight kills and two aces. She also led the team with six digs.
The team had one final match before their scheduled break, this time taking on the Tigers from Ripon. After dropping the first set 20-25, the Falcons made a run in game two to push the match to a third set, but ultimately fell 27-25. Brodhagen led the Falcons in several categories, accounting for eight kills, 12 digs and 12 assists. Soyk had eight kills and 10 digs herself and freshman Faith Sperl had 10 assists and eight digs.
The Falcons split their final two matches of the day. They bounced back after their loss to Ripon, defeating Ladysmith in three close sets, 25-22, 18-25, and 15-9. Abbotsford then took on host Marshfield for their final match on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Falcons, 25-23 and 25-17.
Abbotsford is now 7-5 overall and will be taking on Gilman for a non-conference match on Thursday. The Falcons defeated the Pirates in three straight sets in their matchup last season. This year’s Gilman team is 4-3 through the first two weeks of the season.
