ALL-GNCVOLLEYBALL - Medford splits top awards; 7 Raiders get All-GNC VB spots

ALL-GNC VOLLEYBALL

It took the contributions of many to turn the Medford Raiders into one of the Great Northern Conference’s top volleyball teams and those efforts were reflected with seven players earning spots somewhere on the 2024 All-GNC teams.

While a standout season earned sophomore Kayla Baumgartner the honor of being named the GNC’s co-Player of the Year of 2024, five honorable mentionees and the third straight second-team All-GNC honor at the libero position for junior Rylee Hraby all helped lift Medford from being a 6-6 conference team last fall to 11-1 this year and a shared spot atop the standings. Those making the honorable mention list include seniors Toryn Rau, Shayla Radlinger and Megan Schaefer, junior Finley Arndt and sophomore Taylor Klingbeil.

Also, second-year head coach Ashley Jochimsen-McCarron was named the GNC’s co-Coach of the Year along with Justin Jacobs of Mosinee, the league’s other co-champion. Jochimsen-McCarron and her staff led Medford to a 25-12 overall record, which was much-improved over 2023’s 15-22 mark.

The conference championship was Medford’s first since 2016.

Baumgartner shares the GNC’s top individual honor with Mosinee sophomore Bridget Frye. Both had their share of dominant stretches at the net as outside hitters and, with each having two years remaining, they should continue to put fear in opposing defenses.

Baumgartner ranked second in the conference in total kills with 162. She averaged 3.7 per set in 44 sets played. Only Antigo’s Lola Cornelius had more with 192 total kills and a 4.1 per-set average in 47 GNC sets played. Baumgartner’s attack percentage of .280 in league play ranked third as she collected those 162 kills in 311 attempts with 75 errors. Lakeland’s Ava Evenhouse (.313) and Mosinee’s Abbi Kluz (.297) were the only ones better in GNC play. In conference matches, Baumgartner put 111 of 124 serves in play (89.5%) with 10 aces. She had 42 digs and was credited with three solo blocks and seven block assists.

Baumgartner started GNC play with a monster night Sept. 5 against Antigo. She had 26 kills, five digs and three aces in Medford’s come-from-behind 3-2 win. She had 19 kills in a Sept. 10 win over Lakeland and in an Oct. 12 win over Northland Pines. She had 16 kills in Medford’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Mosinee on Oct. 12 that allowed Medford to tie the Indians for the title.

Baumgartner, a second-teamer last fall, and Frye were two of the three unanimous choices for the All-GNC team. Lakeland senior Stina Peterson was the third. Antigo’s Lola Cornelius and Tristin Arlen, Tomahawk’s Siennah Calkins and Mosinee’s senior libero Daisy Spink filled out the rest of the first team.

Hraby was among the conference leaders in two statistical categories, helping her again get the second-team honor behind Spink. Hraby ranked fourth in digs, racking up an average of 3.9 digs per set with 172 in 44 sets played in GNC matches. She also ranked fourth in serve percentage at .976. She had just three errors in 126 serves in GNC play and 10 of those successful serves went for aces.

Hraby added 25 assists and seven kills in league matches.

Hraby had 34 digs, four assists, a kill and was 10 of 11 from the service line in Medford’s 3-2 win over Antigo in the conference opener. She had 22 digs in the big win over Mosinee and 15 digs and a kill three days later in a 3-1 win at Antigo in the GNC finale. Also at the GNC meet in Medford on Oct. 12, Hraby had 19 digs, three assists, two aces and was 19 of 19 in serving in a 3-1 win over Lakeland. She had 15 digs, four assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep at Rhinelander Oct. 3.

Rau made the honorable mention list for the second straight season. The senior outside hitter ranked 11th in GNC kills by averaging 2.0 per set with 90 in 44 sets played and ranked 12th attack percentage at .180 with 90 kills and 49 errors in 228 total attacks.

Her performance in the Oct. 12 Mosinee match sealed her honor as Rau came through with nine kills, seven digs and six total blocks in the five-set win. She had 11 kills, four digs and two total blocks in the Oct. 15 win at Antigo that clinched the first-place tie. Rau had 11 kills in the first Antigo win, 10 kills in the Sept. 10 win over Lakeland and 10 more kills in the second win over Lakeland on Oct. 12.

She had some good numbers as well in a 3-0 loss at Mosinee on Sept. 17 with eight kills, three digs, a solo block and three total blocks.

The hitters wouldn’t get any accolades without good setters and Medford was blessed with two of them this season with All-GNC

Schaefer and Arndt.

Arndt ranked fifth in the GNC by averaging 4.8 assists per set. She had 212 in 44 sets. Schaefer was seventh at 3.8 assists per set with 167 in 44 sets. Schaefer was the GNC leader in service aces, averaging 0.9 per set. She had 41 in conference play, while Arndt was fourth at 0.6 aces per set with 28. Schaefer also cracked the GNC rankings in serve percentage. She was ninth at .958 with just eight errors in 192 serves.

Schaefer added 29 kills in 62 total attacks for a .338 attack percentage in conference play. She had 32 digs and three solo blocks.

Her top outings in conference play included the Oct. 12 match with Lakeland where she had 24 assists, two kills and two digs while hitting 11 of 12 serves and the two Antigo matches. In the five-set match Sept. 5, Schaefer had 19 assists, a kill, two digs and a solo block while hitting 10 of 12 serves. In the Oct. 15 finale, she had 20 assists and nine digs while hitting 18 of 19 serves. She had an ace and a kill. Schaefer had 15 assists in the 3-2 win over Mosinee while putting all 20 serves in play. She had an ace, two kills, two digs and a solo block in that big win.

Arndt totaled 47 digs and eight kills while serving at a .902 success rate in conference play. She had a big GNC meet in Medford with 27 assists against Northland Pines, along with two aces, two digs and 15 of 16 serving and she had 23 assists in the Mosinee win with seven digs, a kill and two aces. She had 15 assists, seven digs and was 15 of 16 in serving against Lakeland that day.

Arndt had 31 assists, six digs, two aces and was 15 of 16 in serving in the opening win over Antigo, had 20 assists and eight digs in the first Lakeland match and had 17 assists in wins over Rhinelander on Oct. 3 and Tomahawk on Oct. 8.

Radlinger moved from the outside to the middle at the start of this season and, together with Klingbeil, they gave Medford some front-row punch there.

Klingbeil ranked fifth in the GNC in total blocks with 0.8 per set. She had 34 in 44 sets played. Radlinger tied for ninth with 27 blocks, 0.6 per her 43 sets played.

Radlinger’s conference totals included 73 kills with a solid .247 attack percentage. She served at a .944 success rate (134 for 142) with 12 aces. She had 18 digs and 14 solo blocks.

Radlinger had 15 kills in the 3-2 win over Antigo, hit on 15 of 16 serves and had four digs and two solo blocks. She had eight kills in four conference matches in a row in October against Rhienlander, Tomahawk, Lakeland and Mosinee and then had nine in the 3-1 win over Pines in Medford. She was 22 of 22 in serving in the Mosinee win with five aces. She had five total blocks in the 3-1 win over Lakeland Oct. 12 with two solos.

Klingbeil emerged as a force to be dealt with in the second half of the season and, along with Baumgartner, gives Medford some power to work with for the next two years. This fall, she had 62 kills on a .260 attack percentage in GNC play and 15 solo blocks.

She stepped up bigtime in the Mosinee win with 10 kills and involvement in 14 total blocks, including three solos and nine block kills. She followed that up with 10 kills and nine total blocks at Antigo three nights later. She had nine kills in the Oct. 8 home sweep over Tomahawk along with three digs and three total blocks and eight kills with four total blocks against Lakeland on Oct. 12. She had six kills in earlier wins over Antigo, Tomahawk and Northland Pines.

Mosinee’s title share marked its seventh GNC title in eight years. Jacobs was named a Coach of the Year for the fifth time in that stretch. Mosinee was the lone GNC team to survive regional week in the WIAA Division 2 tournament. The secondseeded Indians, however, lost 3-1 to fifthseeded Shawano in their sectional semifinal Thursday, ending their season at 28-10.

Rylee Hraby Second Team

Ashley Jochimsen- McCarron Co-Coach of the Year

Toryn Rau Hon. Mention

Shayla Radlinger Hon. Mention

Megan Schaefer Hon. Mention

Finley Arndt Hon. Mention

Taylor Klingbeil Hon. Mention