MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL - What a win!

MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL

Any remaining chance of Medford earning a piece of the program’s first Great Northern Conference volleyball championship since 2016 hinged on beating Mosinee Saturday afternoon in the second round of the league meet at Medford Area Middle School.

Being down 2-0 to the Indians after two sets didn’t help the situation.

What did help was the knowledge the Raiders were playing well. They just fell short in 25-23 and 27-25 losses. Playing with the lead in game three, the momentum shifted enough and stayed with the Raiders long enough for them to win the next three sets and earn their biggest victory of the season.

The win gave Medford the opportunity to tie Mosinee for the league championship, which the Raiders did by closing out Saturday’s meet with a 3-1 win over Northland Pines and by earning a 3-1 win at Antigo Tuesday. Both Mosinee and Medford finished 11-1 in conference play. Medford closed the regular season at 2411.

“We’ve been preparing all week for this,” senior Toryn Rau said after Saturday’s meet. “We knew in our heads (Mosinee) was a game we could win. I think after being down, I think we realized we needed to buckle in and get it done.”

“We weren’t down that much,” senior Shayla Radlinger said. “We lost, but it was in the 20s. We never swooped down to any level. We were staying high the whole time.”

That, right there, was the difference between Saturday’s match and Mosinee’s 3-0 sweep of Medford on Sept. 17. Mosinee took the first two sets 25-12, 25-10 and even though the third set was close, the momentum was never with Medford.

After Saturday’s first two losses, the Raiders knew they were right there. When they jumped out to an 11-5 lead in game three, the momentum they needed was finally there.

“We started out faster (in game three),” Rau said. “In our first two games we got down by five or six. So in the third set we really started strong and that’s what helped us.”

“It’s much easier (to play with a lead),” Radlinger said.

“Games one and two we played well,” Medford head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron said. “Twenty-five and 23, you can’t complain. We never lost control. We never rode that roller coaster. We just kept playing well, kept chipping away.”

Medford never led in the first set, trailing by as much as six before getting as close as 24-23 on a Finley Arndt ace. Mosinee’s Abbi Kluz hit the sideline with a kill on the next point. Mosinee led game two 9-2 before the Raiders again worked their way back, finally tying it at 24-24 on a Kayla Baumgartner ace. Medford then got set point before giving up three straight points.

With stellar defense and hustle from the back row, improved blocking as the match went on to slow Mosinee’s strong and varied attack in the front row and timely tips to go along with their own power when needed, the Raiders proved they weren’t backing down.

Radlinger powered a winner into a Mosinee block, Laney Hraby got a roll to fall, as did Baumgartner, Radlinger got a kill in the middle and Kayla got a touch to push Medford to a 19-15 mid-game lead. Baumgartner’s well-played tip off a block made it 20-17, Taylor Klingbeil got a kill at 22-18 and Baumgartner got a tip to fall from the right side at 23-19. Mosinee errors finished off a 25-22 game-three win.

Medford jumped ahead 7-2 in game four and never trailed after that as the Indians uncharacteristically became a bit unglued. The lead grew to 19-10 and 21-12 after a couple of big kills from Klingbeil. It hit 23-12 on a Rau block. Mosinee made a too little, too late run, but Klingbeil’s kill and Rau’s tip finished off a 25-20 win.

“Our defense was crazy,” Rau said. “Rylee (Hraby) came out of the game once and I told her, ‘Rylee you are a machine.’ She was getting everything up. It was crazy. She did so good.”

“It helps to have blocks, but even the block touches help the back row get under it,” Radlinger said. “The touches give (the back row) time to get to the ball. We’ve worked a lot on blocking and you can tell that it’s making a difference.”

Mosinee took a quick 4-0 lead in game five, but Medford quickly tied it. Rylee Hraby’s dig eventually led to a hard tip from Radlinger on the tying point. Baumgartner’s kill tied it a 6-6. Mosinee went back up 9-6, but Medford stayed close. Baumgartner’s big block on Mosinee’s Aubrey Lokken made it 10-9, Klingbeil’s block on Jaiden Reed made it 11-10. Sophia Steinman’s attack off a block tied it at 13-13, Aliyah Pilgrim fired off a short ace that forced Mosinee to call a timeout at match point. It didn’t matter as Steinman came up with another big play, blocking Mosinee’s heavy hitter Bridget Frye to start the celebration.

“We were just making those crucial plays,” Jochimsen-McCarron said. “We’re getting better at tipping and seeing what’s open rather than just swinging constantly. We’ve worked on that adjustment, which has been extremely beneficial.”

Baumgartner had 16 kills in the win, Klingbeil had 10, Rau had nine and Radlinger had eight. Arndt had 23 assists and Megan Schaefer added 15.

Klingbeil was part of 14 total blocks and Radlinger, Rau and Steinman were all part of six. Rylee Hraby had 22 digs, while Rau and Arndt had seven each.

Medford had just five errors in 109 serves (95.4%) and served 12 aces. Radlinger had five of them and Pilgrim had three.

The Mosinee win was just part of a 3-0 day for the Raiders. Medford got challenged by Lakeland in round one. Medford took the first set 25-18, but Lakeland came our roaring in game two and led 15-2 at one point before Medford made a run and got within 25-18.

Medford pushed out to a 13-7 lead in game three that dwindled to 21-20 before Rau’s block of a T-Bird tip and Radlinger’s kill of a free ball finished off a 25-22 win. The Raiders held a four- to five-point lead through most of game four and won it 2519.

Baumgartner had 15 kills and Rau had 10 in that win. Klingbeil had two solo blocks and four total blocks. Schaefer dished out 24 assists and Rylee Hraby had two aces as the Raiders were 94 of 98 from the service line (95.9%). Hraby also had 19 digs.

Medford carried the momentum of the Mosinee win into the start of round three, pummeling last-place Northland Pines 25-7. But the seemingly inevitable letdown started to set in in the latter half of game two, which Medford won 25-19. The Eagles scored the last four points on game three to win it 25-23. The Raiders’ focus, however, returned in game four and they closed out the match emphatically at 2512.

Baumgartner had 19 kills, Klingbeil had a hand in 10 blocks and had eight kills, while Radlinger had nine kills and was part of seven blocks. Arndt had 27 assists and two aces. Schaefer had five aces and 14 assists. Hraby had 19 digs.

“We have to work,” Rau said in looking ahead to the Antigo match. “We know it’s not going to be an easy win. Conference is on the line. We have to play our best. Antigo is a good team. They’ve had a good year too.”

Megan Schaefer puts up one of her 15 assists during Medford’s rally from a 2-0 deficit that beat Mosinee Saturday afternoon. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS