Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
When the courts cleared in the MHS Fieldhouse on Saturday, the Bluejay varsity volleyball added yet another piece of hardware to their trophy case, running the table at their home invite.
The ladies gunned down Athens (25-14, 25-13), Crivitz (25-6, 25-4) and DePere (25-22, 25-15), before finishing pool play with a win over Tomahawk (25-18, 25-23).
Merrill picked up where they left off in round two, walloping Wittenberg-Birnamwood (25-13, 25-19), before squaring off with Stanley-Boyd for the tournament championship.
The Orioles had a bit of a surprise in store for the Jays, edging them in the first set 25-22. The ladies fired back with a 25-13 response, then set the Orioles packing with a 15-9 third.
“It was nice to finally win our own invite,” commented head coach Kris Krug. “We saw some teams from other regions that were extremely competitive. DePere had some big swingers that kept us on our toes. Stanley-Boyd is a solid team with a dominating hitter. We struggled at times to defend her in the first set. We jumped out in the second set with a 6-point lead behind Ali Zamzow’s serves!”
Leaders: Morgan Wardall (46K, 3AC, 10BL); Anna Finnell (42K, 2BL); Rylee Folz (33K, 6BL); Ali Zamzow (10 AC, 5K); Lindsey Casper (8AC).
Merrill’s Wardall and Zamzow were named to the all-tournament team, as was Tomahawk’s Hanna Meyer.
The Hatchets didn’t fare as well on Saturday, topping Athens (25-22, 26-24) and Chippewa Falls (25-21,25-19), before falling to DePere (21-25, 25-27) and Merrill.
“Overall we lacked some energy and couldn’t get in rhythm,” commented THS coach Paul Zierten. “I was unimpressed with our performance as a team. Delaney Langdon once again played well for us and Hanna Meyer was named to the all-tournament team. Hanna had 47 kills, Becca Doughty had 77 assists. We had flashes of a veteran team against Merrill and played them well both games until we lost our confidence. It’s a good wake-up call for us to realize the level of play we have right now.”
Jays remain unblemished in WVC play
Thursday evening the Jays punched conference win #2 in their 2015 home opener with Wausau East, sending the Lumberjacks on their way (25-19, 25-14 and 25-15).
“We were excited after a month of volleyball to play in front of our home crowd.” Krug said. “East was pretty scrappy tonight and they served us fairly tough. I was pleased with our middle hitters as they had been working on their timing this week.”
Leaders: Wardall (14K, BL, 2AC); Folz (10K, BL); Finnell (8K); Casper (2AC).
Hatchets upend Raiders in thrilling fashion
The Hatchets managed to nail down a grueling 5-set GNC victory Thursday in Medford.
After THS pulled off the first set, 25-20, the Raiders countered in the second, 25-21, and that would set the tone for the remainder of the match, as the two teams went at it like two boxers in a ring, trading blow for blow. The Raiders surged ahead with a 26-24 third set, but THS knoted it with a 25-22 win and put the match away 15-11.
“Tonight we started out okay” Zierten adds. “The girls played well and were passing very well; they had to with Medford swinging hard. Delaney Langdon was the bright spot after stepping into her first long varsity minutes. She kept plays alive. She made a huge save in the 5th set to get us a 5-point lead. We finally finished the game off with a kill by Danaca Shore. This was a huge win for the program and pushed the girls mentally and physically. These are the games you reference back to once you’re playing late in October. I was incredibly proud of our girls and couldn’t be happier with the results. There are still plenty of things to work on, but we are seeing the progress gained every match.
Leaders: Meyer (28K, 14D); Doughty (44a); Courtney Theiler (13K); Hannah Feest (23D); Colynn Behling (10K).