Raiders get to Gold Bracket; Pirates have solid day at invite

MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL INVITE

To no one’s surprise, small-school powers McDonell Central and Columbus Catholic played each other for the championship, but third-place and fourthplace finishes were nice consolation prizes for the Medford Raiders and Gilman Pirates following Saturday’s Medford Volleyball Invitational.

With rain falling virtually non-stop outside, a full day in the gym wasn’t a bad thing for teams and fans who were treated to some competitive volleyball, particularly amongst the top six teams in the nine-team tournament.

The local squads from Medford and Gilman each won three-set matches with Cadott to help earn their spots in the final standings. Medford beat Flambeau and Cadott in pool play to advance to the afternoon’s Gold Bracket, where the Raiders were swept by both finalists, though they had McDonell on the ropes in game two and let the Macks get away.

Gilman also had a game-two lead on McDonell in pool play that got away. After splitting their pool matches, the Pirates beat Cadott and swept Stanley-Boyd to win the afternoon’s Silver Bracket.

Communication and effort to keep each point alive were among the best things Medford head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron saw from her team during a 2-2 day that left the Raiders at 12-18 overall heading into the season’s home stretch.

The Raiders easily took care of Flambeau 25-12, 25-8 to start the day. A 9-2 run opened up a 15-6 lead in game one. The Falcons closed within 15-9 but Medford surged 10-3 from there. Game two broke wide open on a big serving run from Aliyah Pilgrim that ended with Medford leading 11-2. Another late run included a Taylor Klingbeil kill, two Finley Arndt aces and a Cami Rau kill.

Kayla Baumgartner and Cami Rau found little blocking resistance and registered six kills apiece. Megan Schaefer added four kills and she had 10 assists. Arndt had nine assists and two of Medford’s six aces. Rylee Hraby had 10 digs and Arndt had nine.

Medford got even with Cadott in round two. The Hornets beat Medford early in the season in the Menomonie Sprawl, but the Raiders played their best all-around match of the day to get them this time around.

The Raiders dug out of a 15-10 hole in game one behind a serving run from Hraby that included winners from Toryn Rau and Rachel Wesle. The run tied the set at 17-17, but Cadott nudged ahead with a 6-2 run and took the set 25-21.

Shayla Radlinger’s kill broke a 5-5 tie in game two and her shot off a block to make it 8-5. Baumgartner put one down along the sideline for a 9-6 lead, Radlinger powered another winner through a Hornet block, then a couple of Cadott errors made it 12-7. The Raiders never gave up the lead from there. Amelia Pernsteiner got back-to-back kills to make it 20-13 and Baumgartner got another late kill in the 25-19 win.

Game three didn’t start well with Medford falling into a 7-2 hole. A Toryn Rau kill started the comeback and a couple of Cadott errors kept it going. Radlinger’s kill capped a long rally and tied it 9-9, then she got a touch to put Medford in front 10-9. Schaefer served up two aces to make it 14-9. The Hornets made a run to get within two, but Baumgartner’s tip closed out the set and match at 15-12.

Radlinger had a big match with nine kills, Toryn Rau had six, Baumgartner had five and Wesle added four. Arndt had 15 assists and Schaefer had nine. Baumgartner had two solo blocks. Pilgrim had three aces and Hraby and Schaefer had two apiece. Hraby had 20 digs in the match.

Columbus Catholic, the state’s topranked Division 4 team, knocked Medford on its heels with a dominant 25-14 win in game one of their Gold Bracket matchup. But the Raiders had a better showing in game two. Medford led early 5-3, got within 13-10 on an Arndt ace and within 17-16 following a middle block by Baumgartner, a pair of Schaefer aces and a Columbus miscue, but the Raiders couldn’t ever quite get over the top and fell 25-18.

Medford had just 10 kills in the entire match. Toryn Rau had two solo blocks. Arndt had five assists and Hraby had 11 digs, while Pilgrim had six.

It took Medford a set to catch up with McDonell as well. The Macks, playing without their injured star middle Aubrey Dorn, tore out to a 13-2 lead in game one and took it 25-12.

But Medford gained early momentum behind a serving run from Pilgrim and grabbed a 9-6 lead. Baumgartner’s lock and a Radlinger kill highlighted a big run that made it 19-9. It was 20-10 when the Macks started to chip away and got within 21-19 before the Raiders tried to answer, getting a block and a kill from Baumgartner to reach set point at 24-21. The clinching point never came as the Macks went on a 5-0 run to win the set 26-24 and take the match.

Baumgartner had three kills and three solo blocks. Radlinger and Schaefer had three kills apiece. Schaefer and Arndt had five assists each.

McDonell, the state’s third-ranked team in Division 3, went on to sweep Columbus Catholic in a fast-paced, hardhitting match 25-13, 25-18 to take home the championship trophy in their first appearance in the Medford Invite.

Gilman goes 3-1

Gilman got a tough draw, starting its day with McDonell but the Pirates didn’t blink and gave the Macks a solid opening push.

The Pirates cut a 10-point deficit in game one to 21-17 and then 22-20 before giving up the last three points to fall 2520. McDonell’s Alayna Crawford and Claire Ruf got big kills to end it.

The Pirates jumped ahead early in the game, leading 11-6 at one point. The Macks pulled within 14-13 when Danielle Mann got a two-hand tip to fall and she added a kill a couple of points later for a 17-14 lead. McDonell tied it at 20-20, Gilman got two points, the last of which came on a successful roll from Abby Chaplinski. Mann’s light push fell to tie the set at 23-23, but an error and a kill from Crawford gave McDonell the set 2523 and the match.

Gilman controlled its second pool match with Three Lakes in a 25-20, 25-18 sweep. Gilman took the lead for good in game one at 11-9. Kills from Claire Drier and Bryn Hendricks, a tip from Allison Olynick and a Drier ace helped the Pirates close out the set. Game two was never really in doubt. Mann went on a serving tear with three aces in an 8-0 run that made it 11-3. Emilia Reid got a tip to fall off a big save from the Pirates’ back row, and Hendricks and Drier powered through the Blue Jays’ defense late in the set.

Game one against Cadott in Silver Bracket play may have been the Pirates’ best of the day. The serving, passing and hitting were all on point as Gilman tore out to a 17-9 lead. It was 19-12 when Cadott made a run, but Kenlyn Kroeplin’s late ace helped close out a 25-20 win.

The Hornets took a 12-6 game-two lead, Gilman tied it at 13-13 on a Mann block and took leads of 17-15, 18-16, 20-18 and 21-19 but couldn’t hold on as Cadott went on a 6-1 run to win 25-22 and send the match to a third set, where it took a quick 4-0 lead.

Gilman drew even at 6-6, took advantage of Cadott miscues to go up 9-7 and then finished off the Hornets with a 6-2 spurt highlighted by Drier’s big hit off a block and Chaplinski’s push to the back corner.

The Pirates kept rolling in their final match, jumping ahead of Stanley-Boyd 13-7 in game one, extending the lead to 2112 and winning it 25-18 on a Jaylyn Orth kill. Gilman rallied from a 21-16 deficit to complete the two-game sweep, getting a block and a winning push from Mann to start the comeback and winners from Mann and Hendricks to close it out 25-23.

Drier’s 22 kills led Gilman for the day. Mann had 19, Hendricks had 15, Chaplinski had nine, Olynick added seven and Orth chipped in with six. Drier also led with seven service aces, Kayleigh James and Mann had five each, while Chaplinski and Jaylen Copenhaver added two apiece.

James led Gilman with 47 digs, Chaplinski had 39, Mann had 19, Drier had 16 and Kroeplin had 15. Mann had five block kills, while Drier, Orth and Olynick had two each. Chaplinski had 50 set assists.

Gilman’s Claire Drier gets to the spot to receive a Three Lakes serve just ahead of teammate Kayleigh James during game two of the Pirates’ pool-play win over the Blue Jays during Saturday’s Medford Invitational.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS