MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL - Hraby hits digs milestone; Mosinee takes early GNC lead with sweep

MEDFORD VOLLEYBALL

Aiming to take early control in the Great Northern Conference, the Medford Raiders instead were knocked back on their heels early Tuesday by host Mosinee and didn’t regain their balance until it was too late in a 3-0 sweep by the defending league champions.

The Indians buried Medford 25-12 and 2510 in the first two sets. The Raiders nearly made a stunning comeback in game three, fighting off seven match points to tie it at 2424, but Mosinee got the next two points, the last of which came on an attack from Bridget Frye that appeared to be out but was called in by the officials. The point was prolonged by a bigtime save at the net by Mosinee libero Daisy Spink and prevented the Raiders any chance of coming back from an 0-2 deficit for the second time this fall in GNC play.

Mosinee took over the early lead in the standings, going to 2-0 in league play and 138 overall. Medford is in a three-way tie for second at 2-1 and is 12-7 overall.

There was an individual highlight for the Raiders during Tuesday’s match. Junior libero Rylee Hraby entered play with 991 career digs. She got her ninth dig of the night and 1,000th of her career in the third set on a point that ended with a Kayla Baumgartner kill that pulled the Raiders within 19-17. Hraby had a teamhigh 10 digs in the match. The Raiders had a tough time slowing down Mosinee’s front-line foursome of Frye, Abbi Kluz, Maggie Woller and Olivia Schroeder, who combined for 32 of Mosinee’s 37 kills in the match. Setter Lisa Maurer had 33 assists for the Indians.

Game one turned against Medford quickly after a Baumgartner kill got it within 6-5. A Toryn Rau kill made it 10-6, but Mosinee got a sideout with a Woller kill and Taelyn Jirschele went on a serving run that included a two kills from Kluz and ended at 15-6 with a Frye kill. The lead shot to 22-9 at one point.

Mosinee jumped ahead 7-1, 9-2 and 11-3 early in game two and the Raiders never got much closer. A Shayla Radlinger kill made it 18-10, but Mosinee closed with a 7-0 tear, highlighted by two kills from Frye, an ace from Spink and two kills by Schroeder.

Knocked out of system for most of the first two sets, the Raiders passed, set and hit much better in the third set. Rau had two early kills and Taylor Klingbeil had a strong rotation, getting a block and two kills to give Medford a 10-9 lead. Aliyah Pilgrim’s ace tied it at 13-13. After Baumgartner’s kill got Medford within 19-17, the Indians scored five straight to hit match point. A sideout put Hraby at the service line and the Raiders went on their seven-point run that included a tip kill by Radlinger, Rau’s eighth kill of the night and an ace that tied it.

Baumgartner equaled Rau with eight kills, while Klingbeil and Radlinger had three each. Klingbeil and Radlinger each had two solo blocks and Rau had two block kills.

Megan Schaefer led Medford with 10 assists, while Finley Arndt had seven. Pilgrim had two of Medford’s four aces and Laney Hraby had four digs.

Mosinee served at a 96% success rate (72 of 75), while Medford was 40 of 47 (85.1%). The Indians had nine aces.

After a non-conference trip to Bloomer tonight, Thursday, the Raiders head to Lakeland for the first GNC Saturday meet of the season, which starts at 10 a.m. Medford will face Tomahawk and Rhinelander. Medford is back at Raider Hall Tuesday to host Northland Pines at 7 p.m.

Merrill Invite

The Raiders went 2-2 Saturday at the eight-team Merrill Invitational, earning wins over Stanley-Boyd and Athens after losing their first two matches to Newman Catholic and Chippewa Falls.

Medford’s 1-2 record in pool play kept it out of the championship bracket at the end of the day. There, Edgar beat Chippewa Falls 20 and Winneconne beat Newman Catholic 20 in the semifinals. Winneconne then earned its second win of the day over Edgar, 2-1, to win the tournament title.

Newman Catholic swept Medford 25-20, 25-17 to start the tournament. Baumgartner led the Raiders in kills with seven, while Rau had four. Rylee Hraby had eight digs and Pilgrim had six. Klingbeil, Sophia Steinman and Baumgartner all had a block kill. Arndt had six assists and Schaefer had four.

Pool champion Chippewa Falls swept Medford 25-22, 25-14. Rylee Hraby had 20 digs and Laney Hraby had four in that match. Baumgartner had six kills, Rau had four and Radlinger added three. Klingbeil was involved in three blocks. Arndt had seven assists and Schaefer had four. Pilgrim had Medford’s only service ace.

The Raiders got into the win column with their second 2-1, best-of-three win of the season over Stanley-Boyd. Medford took the first game 25-18, but the Orioles answered with a 25-17 win in game two. Medford edged the Orioles 15-13 in the third set to take the match.

Baumgartner had 12 kills, Klingbeil had four and Radlinger and Rau each had three. Radlinger had two solo blocks. Arndt and Schaefer had nine assists each and Pilgrim had three. Arndt had three of Medford’s five aces. Rylee Hraby had 13 digs and Pilgrim had three.

In their consolation match, the Raiders had no trouble with Athens, winning 25-7, 25-3. Arndt had 10 assists and three aces. Radlinger served four aces and had four kills. Baumgartner had seven kills and three digs. Amelia Pernsteiner, Rau and Klingbeil had two kills each. Klingbeil was credited with three solo blocks and four block kills.