Tough weekend for Medford volleyball at Menomonie Sprawl

MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL

Lots of court time provided opportunities to experiment with lineups, learn and improve for the Medford Raiders over the weekend. Unfortunately, they were only able to put one notch in the win column during their two-day stint at the Menomonie Sprawl held on the UWStout campus.

That one win, a straight-set victory over Prairie Farm to start Saturday’s play, was enough to boost Medford into a four-way tie for 29th place in the final standings for the 40-team invitational.

The Raiders went 0-4 in Friday’s pool play, losing two of the matches in three sets. After the Prairie Farm win got them into the round of 32 on Saturday, Medford put up a good fight but lost to fourthseeded St. Croix Falls, who wound up winning the tournament championship, and then lost twice more in a consolation bracket where they could have shot up to 17th place with two wins.

“We played really well at times,” head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron said. “We lost to the team that ended up winning the tournament. We probably played our best volleyball against them. We’re throwing a lot of things at the girls, a lot of information, and they are still adjusting.”

In pool play, the Raiders got rocked in their first set against Rice Lake but made the second set competitive in a 25-6, 25-22 loss. The second match didn’t start well either with a 25-12 loss to Cameron, but the Raiders regained their footing and very nearly won the match. They took game two 25-18 and the third set went right down to the wire with the Comets winning 16-14.

In the Cameron match, Kayla Baumgartner and Toryn Rau had four kills apiece with Cami Rau adding three. Megan Schaefer had nine assists and Finley Arndt had five. Aliyah Pilgrim was eight for eight in serving with two aces. Arndt also went eight for eight.

The Raiders won the first set 25-20 over Wausau West, but the Warriors came storming back and used 25-11 and 15-8 wins to take the match. Baumgartner had five kills and two solo blocks. Cami Rau had five kills. Medford was 37 for 39 in serving with Arndt getting two of the team’s four aces. She was eight for eight and Toryn Rau was seven for seven. Arndt also had a team-high six assists. Rylee Hraby and Pilgrim each had six digs.

Cadott finished the day with a 25-22, 25-15 sweep of the Raiders. Baumgartner had four kills and two aces and Toryn Rau had three kills in the loss.

Rice Lake won the pool at 4-0, West, Cameron and Cadott all went 2-2.

The first-day results gave Medford the 36th seed going into Saturday and an opening-round match with 29th-seeded Prairie Farm, who went 1-3 in its pool Friday. The Raiders pulled away for a 2518 win in the first set and then held off the Panthers 25-23 in the second.

Again, the attacks were evenly distributed. Baumgartner led with four kills, while Shayla Radlinger and Hraby had two each. Toryn Rau and Radlinger each had a solo block kill. Arndt had four assists and Schaefer added three. Toryn Rau and Hraby both had two aces. Schaefer was perfect in 10 serves.

The win put Medford up against St. Croix Falls, who went 4-0 on Friday. Medford pushed the Saints in both games, but the Saints came away 25-22, 25-20 winners. Cami Rau and Baumgartner both had five kills, Radlinger had three and Toryn Rau added two. Hraby had five digs. Toryn Rau had four aces. Taylor Klingbeil had a kill and a solo block.

St. Croix Central swept Medford 2518, 25-22 in the first round of play in the consolation bracket. Pilgrim was 10 for 10 in serving with two aces, Hraby had five digs, Baumgartner had four kills and Schaefer had seven assists. D.C. Everest closed things out with a 25-22, 25-13 in the final match of the weekend.

Medford next jumps into Great Northern Conference play, hosting Lakeland tonight, Thursday, at 7 p.m. and Mosinee on Tuesday, also at 7 p.m.

“You could see that we were improving through the weekend,” Jochimsen-McCarron said. “The girls are excited for Thursday. It will be good to get a full match under our belts.”

St. Croix Falls swept Eau Claire Memorial 25-23, 25-19 in the championship match after beating McDonell Central 25-21, 30-28 in the semifinals. Eau Claire Memorial beat Columbus Catholic 25-23, 25-16 in the other semifinal and McDonell beat Columbus 25-15, 25-22 in the thirdplace match.