RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL - Phillips gets key points in 3-1 win; Scheithauer reaches digs milestone

RIB LAKE VOLLEYBALL

To win this season’s Marawood North volleyball championship, Rib Lake knew teams like Prentice and defending champion Phillips would be two of the key roadblocks.

Prentice beat Phillips last week, but the Loggers showed Tuesday they aren’t ready to give up the crown just yet when they outlasted Rib Lake 3-1 in the Redmen’s first home match of 2024.

The match certainly could have gone either way. It featured several long rallies, defensive hustle, missed opportunities for both sides and some clutch hitting from both sides.

The slight edge for Phillips was senior Mataya Eckert, a first-team All-Marawood North selection a year ago and the go-to hitter for the Loggers, who came through in most spots when they needed a point.

The pivotal point in the match was, arguably, the first set where Rib Lake led most of the way only to see the Loggers rally late and steal it. That set had a handful of notable moments. Coralee Glenzer had a couple of early kills and then got a third one after Madilyn Blomberg made a great save to keep the point alive at 7-6. An Addison Gumz ace made it 13 9 and then Tahlia Scheithauer dug up a spike attempt from Eckert to set up a kill from Tessa Weik that made it 14-11. That dig was the 1,000th dig of Scheithauer’s prep career. Komarek blocked Eckert on the next rally for a 15-11 lead.

The Loggers tied it at 17-17, but Rib Lake surged ahead to 23-17 and was on the verge of taking the set when Eckert and Annaka Tobias got kills and Chloe Esterholm served an ace off the net to help the Loggers take a 24-23 lead. Esterholm missed a serve and Scheithauer served an ace to put the Redmen ahead 25-24 and Camryn Glenzer hit a winner off a blocker at 26-25, but the Redmen were unable to keep the ball in bounds in the ensuing rallies and fell 28-26.

Rib Lake nearly let game two get away as well but recovered in time to win it 26-24. Camryn Glenzer got on a roll midway through the set with three kills to help the Redmen open up a 20-15 lead. Blomberg tooled a blocker to make it 23-16, but Phillips ripped off six straight points to get within one. Weik got a kill, then after the Loggers tied it, Weik found a hole with a push to end a long rally and Blomberg served an ace to end it.

Rib Lake led set three 10-9 when the Loggers grabbed control. Most of a 10-1 run occurred with Gabby Prostek serving. Now down 19-11, Rib Lake got as close as four at 22-18 on a Coralee Glenzer kill but Phillips was able to close out the set at 25-19.

Phillips kept the pressure on in game four, holding a two- to four-point lead most of the way. Komarek got a kill off a free ball to make it 17-16, she won a point at the net off a tough Weik serve to make it 20-19 and some Logger errors got the deficit to 22-21. But Rib Lake never got over the hump in a 25-23 final.

Now 1-1 in league play, Rib Lake hosts 2-0 Abbotsford on Tuesday in another key match in the North chase. Before that, the Redmen will compete in the Spencer Invitational Saturday. They’ll get a tough non-conference test at Edgar on Sept. 26.

6th at the Dells

Rib Lake’s second trip to the JustAGame Invitational at Wisconsin Dells went considerably better than last year’s with a 4-3 record netting the Redmen sixth place in the 16-team, two-day tournament.

Rib Lake went 2-1 in pool play Friday to earn a high seed in Saturday’s bracket play. The Redmen got to the quarterfinals with a 20 win over Alma-Pepin, but their shot at the championship ended in the quarterfinal round with a 2-1 loss to eventual tournament champion Hillsboro.

Rib Lake swept the Adams-Friendship Green Devils 25-21, 25-15 to get to the fifthplace match, which Wabeno-Laona won 2519, 25-22.

Both sets against the Rebels in the fifthplace match turned on small runs midway through. Game one was tied 16-16 when three errors and an Alli Albrecht kill put the Rebels up 20-16. Rib Lake led game two 14-12, but an 8-2 surge by Wabeno-Laona gave the Rebels a 20-16 lead. Match point at 24-19 was trimmed to 24-22 on a Weik kill and two errors, but Lily Terry’s kill ended it.

Weik and Madelyn Anderson had four kills each and Megan Komarek and Madilyn Blomberg added three each in the match. Camryn Glenzer had two aces, Komarek had two block assists, Coralee Glenzer had seven digs while Weik had six and Weik had nine assists, while Addison Gumz had seven.

In the sweep over the Green Devils, Komarek and Blomberg led the offense with five kills each. Rib Lake served nine aces. Lily Butler had three of them, while Weik and Camryn Glenzer had two each. Gumz and Weik set up the hitters with seven assists each.

Anderson had three block assists, while Komarek and Camryn Glenzer had two each. Coralee Glenzer had eight digs, Tahlia Scheithauer had seven and Weik and Gumz had five each.

In the quarterfinals, Hillsboro set the tone with a 25-13 game-one win, but Rib Lake responded in game two with stronger defense that kept rallies alive and allowed the Redmen to put attacks away. The key surge started with the set tied at 10-10. Weik got a kill, Butler served an ace, Komarek got a couple of kills, Coralee Glenzer added a tip and then Anderson set a middle kill by Komarek as the lead grew to 18-12. Scheithauer’s ace made it 22-14 and the Redmen held after the Tigers closed the gap to one and won 25-21.

Hillsboro jumped ahead 5-0 and 8-2 in game three. Rib Lake got as close as 9-7 but lost 15-8.

Weik had 10 kills in that match and Coralee Glenzer had five. Scheithauer had three aces and 15 digs. Weik had 12 digs and Coralee Glenzer had seven. Gumz had 10 assists and Weik had seven.

Rib Lake won the round of 16 match with Alma-Pepin 25-16, 25-22. Weik had six kills, Anderson had five and Coralee Glenzer had four. Butler had two aces, while Weik had 10 assists and Gumz had seven. Gumz and Coralee Glenzer were the dig leaders with nine apiece. Weik had seven.

Rib Lake had three three-set matches in Friday’s pool play. The Redmen won the first against Bangor 25-16, 22-25, 15-12. Rib Lake trailed by four several times in game three, the last of which was 9-5, but the Redmen evened it at 11-11 following a kill and an ace from Camryn Glenzer. Blomberg’s off-speed kill put Rib Lake ahead 12-11. Weik tipped one over a blocking wall, Blomberg served an ace and Weik ended the match with a kill.

Weik had 13 kills in the win, Blomberg had seven, Anderson had five and Komarek had four to go along with two block assists. Camryn Glenzer served three aces, while Weik and Scheithauer had two each. Gumz had 19 assists. Scheithauer had 12 digs, Blomberg had 11 and Weik had 10.

Wabeno-Laona took the win in round two. Rib Lake won game one 25-19, but the Rebels took the next two sets 25-18, 15-11. Rib Lake led the third set 11-10, but two big kills and two aces turned it to the Rebels’ favor.

Rib Lake ended the day with a 21-25, 2517, 15-11 win over the Deerfield Demons. The Redmen led the key third set throughout and had a 9-3 edge after two Weik aces. It was 13-7 after a Camryn Glenzer kill and kills by Anderson and Weik finished it.

Weik had 12 kills and Komarek had seven. Scheithauer served four aces and Weik had three. Gumz had 11 assists with Weik adding seven. Coralee Glenzer had 14 digs, Scheithauer had 10, Weik had nine and Gumz had eight.

Rib Lake went 1-6 in this tournament last year.