Falcons hold off Rib Lake’s late push; tough day at Spencer

RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL

The Rib Lake volleyball team didn’t give up after dropping the first two sets of its match at Abbotsford Tuesday and nearly pushed the Falcons to a decisive fifth game.

It wasn’t meant to be as the Falcons held them off in game four 25-23 to take the Marawood North match. But in the midst of a tough stretch, the Redmen found their aggressive side and can hopefully build from during the back half of the season.

“We didn’t come away with the win, but it was a great game for fans to watch,” Rib Lake head coach Heather Weik said. “With a slower start, we had to battle back. I loved how we stayed aggressive through the entire match.”

The Falcons, who still could have a pretty big influence in how the Marawood North title chase shakes out, won the first set 25-17 and took a 2-0 lead by adding a 25-18 win.

Rib Lake didn’t quit, controlling game three and winning it 25-16. Needing the fourth game to stay alive, the Lady Redmen were in it to the end.

Rib Lake got a strong outing from senior middle Jennie Pichea, who put down 13 kills and added a solo block. She wasn’t the only one to get things done at the net. Tessa Weik and Coralee Glenzer had seven kills each, Josie Scheithauer and Camryn Glenzer had six kills apiece and Madilyn Blomberg had five. The Redmen did a better job of hitting their spots with just 24 errors in 176 attack attempts.

Weik ran the offense well, setting up teammates with 30 assists. Addison Gumz had four and Coralee and Camryn Glenzer had three each.

Coralee Glenzer fired off three aces in the match and was a perfect 15 of 15 in serving. Josie Scheithauer was 14 for 15 with an ace and Weik had two aces. Rib Lake had seven aces in 84 serves and six errors (92.9%).

Libero Tahlia Scheithauer continued to shine with 29 digs. Camryn Glenzer had 18, Weik had 17, Coralee Glenzer had 11 and Avery Niemi had 10.

“Tahlia was amazing in the back row and kept us in the game in each set,” coach Weik said. “Tessa played the setting position the entire night in a 5-1 rotation. Jennie played extremely aggressive at the net and did a great job of breaking down their defense. It was a great game to get us ready for Prentice next week and preparing for the post season.”

Abbotsford improved to 2-1 in the North and 16-5 overall. The Falcons sit in a three-way for second place in the North with Prentice and Athens. Prentice beat Athens 3-1 on Tuesday to shake up the standings. Phillips now holds the lead at 3-0, but the Loggers still have to face Abbotsford and Athens. Rib Lake fell to 0-3 in the North and 6-21 overall. The Redmen host Prentice Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Tough day at Spencer

The Redmen went into Saturday’s six-team Spencer Invitational expecting some tough competition from their Marawood North rivals Athens and Prentice and three evenly-played matches against foes similar to themselves.

What they didn’t expect was to come out of the day 0-5.

Rib Lake took Athens and Spencer to three sets but ultimately fell in both. Manawa, Prentice and Weyauwega-Fremont swept the Redmen to drop them to sixth place for the day.

“There were some highlights, but overall we just played to our competitors’ levels and couldn’t capitalize on the wins,” Heather Weik said. “We were without the Gumz girls (Addison and Isabelle) and that played a part without having additional help in the back row and at the opposite setter position. Instead, we ran a 5-1 with Tessa setting all around.”

The highlight of the day was pushing Athens to the brink in a near upset win. The Blue Jays easily swept Rib Lake in Marawood North play on Sept. 5, but this time Rib Lake had a legitimate shot to beat them.

Athens took the opening set 25-20, while Rib Lake took the second 25-21. The third one went right to the end with Athens winning 15-13. The Blue Jays went 5-0 on the day to win the tournament championship.

Pichea had six kills in the match, while Weik, Camryn Glenzer and Josie Scheithauer had four each and Coralee Glenzer and Blomberg had three apiece. Weik set up the hitters with 16 assists and Tahlia Scheithauer had two. She also had nine digs, while Weik and Camryn Glenzer had seven apiece. Josie Scheithauer had a solo block and she was eight for eight in serving with an ace. Coralee Glenzer was 15 for 15 with two aces and Tahlia Scheithauer was 14 for 15 with two aces.

Prentice went 4-1 to take second. The Buccaneers swept Rib Lake 25-20, 2513. Pichea had five kills in that match, the Glenzer sisters had four each as did Blomberg. Weik had 15 assists. Tahlia Scheithauer had 10 digs, Isabella Fallos and Coralee Glenzer had six each and Weik added five.

Rib Lake put all 33 serves in play with two aces from Blomberg, who was eight for eight. Pichea had a solo block.

The third-place team, Weyauwega-Fremont, swept the Redmen 25-16, 25-21 despite a strong effort from outside hitter Camryn Glenzer, who had seven kills and just two errors in 11 attacks. Pichea had a solo block and two kills and Weik had 12 assists.

Tahlia Scheithauer was 10 for 10 in serving with two aces and Weik added two aces. The Redmen weren’t quite as sharp from the service line with four errors in 36 serves. Tahlia Scheithauer also had a team-high 11 digs.

Spencer went 2-3 for the day to place fourth, including a thrilling 25-17, 24-26, 15-13 win over the Lady Redmen.

Pichea was tough at the net with 12 kills and just three errors in 23 attacks and Blomberg had 10 kills in 21 attempts. Camryn Glenzer added six kills. Weik had 27 assists in the three-set match. Coralee Glenzer and Tahlia Scheithauer had 10 digs each while Avery Niemi added seven. Five players had an ace apiece but, again, some misses were key with eight errors in 59 serves (86.4%).

The Manawa Wolves’ only win of the day was a 25-17, 25-22 victory over Rib Lake. The Redmen got five kills from Pi- chea and three from Blomberg with Weik putting up 10 assists. Tahlia Scheithauer had 10 digs, while Weik and Coralee Glenzer had seven each and Camryn Glenzer had six. Josie Scheithauer was eight for eight in serving with two aces. Weik was five for five with two aces. Tahlia Scheithauer was eight for nine with three aces. The team served a 92.1% success rate (35 of 38).

“We could have come out with a winning record, but our mistakes –– mostly serving and hitting errors –– added up quickly and let the other teams in it,” coach Weik said. “Tahlia Scheithauer was solid from the back row and Tessa was with setting. Jennie stepped up in most matches and helped a lot in the front row.”