The Merrill girls took a quick break from their Valley schedule to fit in a pair of non-league victories. The Jays swept Rhinelander on Thursday, then pulled out a four-set triumph at Eau Claire North on Tuesday.
The Bluejays opened with a tight 26-24 win, fell 25-20, but rebounded with 25-23 and 25-19 sets to jump to 23-6 on the season.
“Eau Claire North proved to be a reputable opponent tonight,” MHS coach Kris Krug said. “They were aggressive, scrappy, and forced us to earn our points. Anna Finnell was on the attack tonight with 15 kills and Katie Zelinski followed with 12.
“We needed this win as E.C. North is in our sectional and we wanted to fine-tune our game for the upcoming rematch against Valley rival D.C. Everest.”
Production was turned in by: Anna Finnell (15 kills, 5 digs); Katie Zelinski (12 k, 3 d); Emily Page (41 assists, 12 d); Morgan Marnholtz (2 ac, 24 d); Ali Zamzow (2 ac, 21 d); Morgan Wardall (7 k, 3 bl, 3 d); Rylee Folz (11 k); Maddix Bonnell (17 d); Chey Pyka (12 d).
Hammering Hodags
The Bluejays captured a 25-18, 25-15, 25-13 straight-set home triumph over Rhinelander.
“We started out a little slow tonight, but the girls came back and responded well to get back into the game,” Krug said. “We had some different line-ups in tonight and had a chance to work on our offensive plays. It was a good night for Merrill volleyball going into our homecoming weekend!”
Contributions came from: Finnell (7 k, 2 bl); Wardall (6 k, 3 bl); Folz (6 k, 2 bl); Bonnell (6 k, 3 d); Page (3 ac, 17 as, 6 d); Marnholtz (3 ac, 11 d); Pyka (3 ac, 3 d); Lindsay Casper (6 as); Zamzow (2 ac, 5 d); Zelinski (3 k).
The league-leading Bluejays (6-0) will launch into the second half of their Valley schedule with Thursday’s match at second-place D.C. Everest (5-1).