TAKING CONTROL
MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL
Raiders avenge earlier loss to Antigo in four sets
With the calendar flipped to October, it’s time for the Medford volleyball team to peak and the Raiders took a nice step toward that Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Antigo in front of a sizable Cancer Awareness Night crowd at Raider Hall.
The theme for the night was taking control, which the Raiders did to win three close sets that could’ve gone either way.
“We’re trying really hard on when we’re down you gotta take control of the game and you have to find who’s going to be hot and who’s going to get that kill for you and then stay up after you get that kill,” senior Cami Rau said. “Get that next serve over, stay aggressive with the ball.”
Rau had the hot hand down the stretch when Medford had to step up to hold off the Red Robins who were frantically working to send the match to a fifth set. Medford started strong in game four, taking a 9-2 lead, but Antigo quickly erased that lead and took a 14-11 lead of its own following a Lily Muraski ace. Medford got a sideout and then turned things over to sophomore libero Rylee Hraby who got aces on three of her next four serves. Then Rau put down consecutive kills off assists from Megan Schaefer and Rachel Wesle for an 18-14 lead. Toryn Rau got a big block kill to make it 20-15 and that was followed by a Finley Arndt ace. Antigo got within 21-19, Cami Rau hit on a deep kill and Aliyah Pilgrim just scraped the back line for ace to make it 23-19. Kayla Baumgartner banged a shot off a block to hit match point at 24-21 and Medford won a battle at the net to close out its third 25-23 win of the match.
“They worked hard,” head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron said. “They took control and finished. Taking control of that and finishing was awesome. We had some good big runs. Game four was a little scary. Having that 8-2 run and then letting them back in. But really taking control and then closing it was huge.”
The win puts Medford at 5-4 in the Great Northern Conference, a game up on Antigo for fourth place with three matches to go. Two of them are Saturday in Tomahawk against leagueleading Mosinee and cellar-dweller Northland Pines. The Raiders finish the regular season Tuesday at Lakeland, who currently sits in third place.
Also of note, seeding for the WIAA Division 2 post-season tournament already happens on Sunday. Medford is now 14-19 overall.
“That’s a nice way to go into Saturday,” Jochimsen-McCarron said. “We need to take this high and go into Saturday. Getting that edge and really pushing through hopefully will help with seeding. Hopefully it will give us one regional home game.”
Facing a team that beat them 3-1 in the first GNC meet in Antigo on Sept. 16, the Raiders were solid through most of game one. They led 9-5 early, trailed 14-12, 19-17 and 20-18 and then took control thanks to an Antigo error and then a little serving run from Hannah Fleegel that included an ace and two winners at the net from Shayla Radlinger. Toryn Rau rolled a shot just barely over the net that fell to break a 23-23 tie and Amelia Pernsteiner’s kill clinched it.
“We came in knowing what they were going to do, the plays they run and that their setter likes to dump the ball a lot, so we had a lot better coverage than we did in the last game,” Cami Rau said.
“I feel like our communication got a lot better throughout the games and I think that helped a lot,” Baumgartner said.
Medford trailed 9-2 out of the gate in game two and fought all the way back within one on several occasions but just never got over the hump and then ran out of gas in a 25-19 loss.
Pushing through the ups and downs of a long match is something the Raiders said they’ve definitely learned to do better as the season has progressed.
“Always stay positive on yourself and never get down or bring your team down,” Baumgartner said.
The Raiders trailed by four early in game three, but turned it around in a stretch where Radlinger got a kill, Hraby served an ace, Cami Rau got a kill for a 12-11 lead and Toryn Rau blocked Ava Jaje for a two-point edge. Cami Rau, Baumgartner, Radlinger and Wesle had kills as the lead bounced back and forth. Cami Rau’s kill finally put Medford ahead for good at 22-21. Baumgartner’s kill ended the set at 25-23 to cap one of the match’s key stretches.
“Cam really kept us alive,” Jochimsen-McCarron said. “She did a nice job. She had some nice big plays. We let the ball drop in goofy times, but we made the big plays when we needed to. I feel like our blocking tonight was 100 times better than it was when we were up there. Toryn struggled a little hitting but she really came through with her blocks and serves tonight.”
Baumgartner’s 15 attack kills led the Raiders, while Cami Rau had 12 and Radlinger had nine. Toryn Rau led with five solo blocks, Baumgartner and Radlinger had three each.
Arndt had 18 assists and Megan Schaefer had 17. Pilgrim had five of Medford’s 14 service aces with Hraby adding three. Hraby had 28 digs, Arndt had 13, Baumgartner had 12 and Schaefer added eight.
“From the beginning of the season, I think we’ve come a long way,” Baumgartner said. “Our communication has become so much better because we’ve become so strong as a team.”
In another win for the night, basket raffles, a miracle minute and a matching donation from Century 21 Dairyland Realty led to $1,395 being raised for Taylor County Moving For a Cure.
Hatchets 3, Raiders 1
The third meeting of the month between Medford and Tomahawk went the Hatchets’ way Thursday in a four-set match played at the Tomahawk Fieldhouse.
The teams split their GNC matches in a pair of fourset matches 12 days apart.
“We played hard, it just wasn’t falling for us,” Jochimsen- McCarron said. “Their outsides were hitting the ball hard and our defense was working hard digging those balls.”
Baumgartner had 11 kills, eight solo blocks and 13 digs in the match, while Cami Rau had 10 kills and two solo blocks. Radlinger added six kills and two solo blocks. Toryn Rau had four kills and five solo blocks.
Schaefer had 11 assists and three of Medford’s eight service aces. Arndt had six assists and 12 digs. Hraby and Pilgrim had 19 digs each.
“Rylee had an awesome night and was reading the ball well,” Jochimsen-McCarron said. “Megan and Rachel Wesle brought high energy when they were out there and Rachel was getting some key blocks during crucial times. Megan was setting a nice ball which allowed our hitters to get those kills.”
Tomahawk separated from the Raiders in game one with a 6-1 run that made it 15-9. Medford made a late run to get within 24-21 before the Hatchets got game point.
Medford took a 10-7 lead in game two, capped by a Schaefer ace, and stretched the lead to 12-8 on a Baumgartner ace. Tomahawk scored the next four, Medford took a couple of two-point leads, but the Hatchets caught the Raiders again at 15-15 and took the lead for good and won it 25-20.
The Raiders got the lead early in game two and kept the Hatchets two or three points behind. A Pilgrim ace opened up an 18-13 advantage, but the Hatchets got on a run and threatened to complete the sweep by taking a 21-19 advantage. Baumgartner got a kill off an Arndt assist to stop the run, then Cami Rau caught fire from the left side. She powered an attack through a double block and added a kill to the middle of Tomahawk’s defense for a 23-22 lead. The Hatchets tied it, then Medford won the set 25-23 on a crossing kill by Rau and a winner deflected off a blocker.
The momentum carried briefly into game four with Medford taking a quick 5-1 lead. The Hatchets tied it at 6-6, took the lead at 13-12 after the teams traded several points and then opened up a 19-15 lead. Medford got it tied back up at 21-21, but a miscue and a Hatchet block put Tomahawk up by two. Rau got a kill to make it 2322 but the Hatchets got the next two points to clinch it 25-22.
