RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL - Lucky 13 in a row for Rib Lake after Athens sweep

RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL

The 2024 quest to turn around its Marawood North results got off to a good start Tuesday for the Rib Lake volleyball team, who took the short trip south and swept rival Athens 3-0 to open league play.

While Athens (3-11) has gone into a rebuilding mode after several strong seasons, Rib Lake is certainly on the upswing. The Redmen won their 13th straight match and improved to 15-3 overall just two weeks into the regular season. Rib Lake won 13 matches all of last year.

“We continue to play great team ball,” Rib Lake head coach Heather Weik said. “We are improving on finding the right players to do the job at the right time. We have a long way to go, but we are excited about our successful start.

“In the past, winning close matches was difficult, but, so far, we have found a way to capitalize on clutch points this season, Weik added. “We are adjusting to pressure situations much better and continue to be aggressive and court-aware in those situations. The players believe in their roles and celebrate each others' successes.”

Tuesday’s match featured the necessary ingredients for volleyball success for the Redmen. Starting with strong defense and passing from the back row, the Redmen were able to keep rallies alive and turn opportunities into solid sets and strong attacks attacks while dominating two of the three sets.

Rib Lake never trailed in the first game, quickly jumping ahead 4-0 with Tessa Weik scoring the first point by pushing a free ball to an open spot. Madilyn Blomberg got a kill off a Weik assist and Addison Gumz served up an ace. Freshman right side Madelyn Anderson went on a mid-game run that opened up an 18-13 lead with two kills and a block. With Camryn Glenzer serving, the Redmen pushed ahead 22-14. Megan Komarek got the final point of the 2519 win, driving an attack off an Athens block.

Athens’ chance to stay in the match came in set two. The Blue Jays led most of the way with the widest lead being five at 12-7. The Redmen crept within 17-16 following a Tahlia Scheithauer ace. Athens scored the next three points, but Rib Lake worked its way back again, getting winners from Anderson and Weik and a couple of Blue Jay errors to take a 23-22 lead. The teams then began trading points extending the game to 26-26 on a Komarek kill off a Weik assist. A double-hit violation on Athens and Anderson’s kill off a block sealed Rib Lake’s 28-26 win.

The close loss seemed to deflate the Blue Jays, who faded with two key runs. The first stretched Rib Lake’s lead to 11-5 and then, with Camryn Glenzer serving, Weik had three kills, Blomberg got a tip and Glenzer served an ace as the lead grew to 19-6. Komarek had two late kills as Rib Lake closed out the match 25-10.

The last time a Rib Lake team beat Athens was in 2011 when the Redmen won 2-1 in the Stratford tournament. The last time Rib Lake beat Athens in Marawood Conference play was in 2009 when the Redmen won two matches over the Blue Jays during their 10-0 championship season in the North.

Rib Lake will compete in a tournament at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells Saturday before returning to Marawood North play Tuesday. In Rib Lake’s longawaited home opener, the Redmen will take on Phillips, the defending North champion at 7 p.m.

“We are looking forward to our weekend in the Dells where we will compete against other teams around the state,“ coach Weik said. With the great team culture we have going on, it will be fun to see where the season will go from here.”

2-0 at Auburndale

The Redmen got two good early-season battles at Thursday’s Auburndale triangular and pulled out three-set wins in both matches.

Against Colby, the Redmen took set one 25-19, dropped set two 25-13 and used a late surge to take the decisive third game 15-13.

Rib Lake led set one early 12-6, Colby got on a run to tie it at 13-13 and then the Redmen broke that tie with a Megan Komarek kill off an attempted blocker and never trailed again.

The Redmen fell behind 7-2 to start game two and never really recovered. They did pull within 14-12 on a run that included a Camryn Glenzer push at the net, a Madilyn Blomberg kill, a Tahlia Scheithauer ace and a Tessa Weik kill. A late run that included three straight aces by Colby’s Savana Thomsen sealed Rib Lake’s fate in the second set.

Set three went back and forth. Rib Lake had the first surge, pushing ahead 6-3. Colby answered with a 7-2 run that put the Hornets on top 10-8. Rib Lake tied it at 11-11 when Blomberg set up Weik for a light push that found a hole and Camryn Glenzer’s ace, followed by a winner from Weik and then a Weik tip kill off another Blomberg assist got Rib Lake to match point at 14-11. The Hornets then scored twice before a long rally ended with a Colby error.

Weik had eight kills in the match, Blomberg had seven and Komarek and Coralee Glenzer had three each. Addison Gumz had nine assists, Weik had five, Coralee Glenzer had four and Blomberg added her two in game five. Weik led Rib Lake with 12 digs, while Scheithauer had nine and Gumz had seven. Camryn Glenzer had a solo block.

The match with Auburndale started with a marathon first game that Rib Lake won 3028. Rib Lake led virtually the whole way, leading by as much as seven at 22-15 following an Avery Niemi ace and two kills by Blomberg. But the Eagles got on a run behind the serving of Chesney Nagel, who had two aces, to get within 22-20. Kills by Lily Bellanti and Sidney Wolff put the Eagles ahead 24-23 and then things went back and forth.

Rib Lake had set points at 25-24 and 2625. Auburndale had one at 27-26. Coralee Glenzer’s kill tied it and Weik’s successful push made it 28-27. Wolff got a kill but then served long and Niemi’s tough serve led to a free ball that Camryn Glenzer put down with an easy tap to finally end it.

Auburndale responded with a 25-20 win in game two. A big mid-game run behind Breleigh Grimm’s serving pushed the Eagles into a 19-11 lead. Rib Lake only got as close as four after that.

Rib Lake controlled game three for the most part. Gumz had two aces in a 4-0 run to start it. Weik added three kills for an 8-2 lead. Auburndale crept within 11-8, but a Coralee Glenzer kill and a Niemi ace got the lead up to 13-8. Weik scored on a push to the corner to make it 14-10 and she closed it out at 15-12, getting a kill off a Gumz assist.

Weik had 14 kills and Coralee Glenzer had 12 in the win. Blomberg added seven. Weik also led in assists with 15, while Gumz had 12 and Niemi had four. The defense was strong with 61 total digs. Scheithauer had 14, Weik had 12, Niemi had 11 and Blomberg had 10. Gumz had three aces, while Niemi and Scheithauer had two apiece.