September 7, 2018 at 12:47 p.m.
Medford sweeps Hodag volleyball
Medford sweeps Hodag volleyball
The Raiders rode to a 25-10, 25-16, 25-6 victory in the match.
For Rhinelander (1-17, 0-2 Great Northern), its losing streak was extended to 16 matches on the season. Coach Brianna Scheuermann said she's seeing improvement from her team, but described it as "baby steps as this point."
"We kind of just worked on the girls moving and covering," she said. "They were working a little better today, getting touches. We had a few more kills by getting balls up and being able to set. It was an improvement from Tuesday I think. They were definitely working as a team more."
Just as it was on Tuesday night in a 25-7, 25-15, 25-10 loss to Wausau East, Rhinelander's most competitive set was the second Thursday night against the Raiders. The Hodags hung with Medford much of the way before fading late. Scheuermann said her team brought some fire that set. Now, it's just a matter of keeping it going for three sets.
"I had a big talk with them and told them when we're in a game, it's not over until the last point," she said. "We're definitely trying to work on their fire and keeping it up. It's definitely kind of a rebuilding season and I know it's hard on them, but we're just trying to get that mindset that it's not over and we've just got to keep fighting. We brought that the second set definitely."
Sophomore Kahlie Arneson had the best attacking night, statistically, for the Hodags, recording five kills and a couple of blocks. Hannah Worachek, Novalee Juel and Brooke Mork had two kills each. Worachek also chipped in three blocks.
"She's definitely our strong middle with the kills and the blocks," Scheuermann said of Arneson. "This is Nova's first year working as a hitter and middle blocker. Last year she was a setter. She's just trying to learn, but Kahlie is definitely a strong hitter and middle blocker out there."
Olivia TerBeest handled the bulk of the setting duties Thursday, recording five assists on 25 attempts. Mork led the team with five digs while libero Mikayla Evenstad had four. Arneson and Bryce Ridderbusch each recorded a service ace, as Rhinelander was 24 of 28 (86 percent) serving overall - an uptick from recent matches.
"The past couple of weeks it's been (a lot of) service errors, service errors," Scheuermann said. "We've done a lot more serving this week in practice so we can eliminate those errors and not give up as many points in the game."
Next up for Rhinelander is an invitational today at Shawano.
Freelancer Bob Mainhardt contributed to this story.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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