September 23, 2020 at 1:09 p.m.
RHS volleyball swept by Medford
RHS volleyball swept by Medford
The Hodags came as close as they have all season on Tuesday night, rallying from a large third-set deficit to get within a point late, only to fall 25-9, 25-16, 25-21 to Medford in a Great Northern Conference match at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Down 16-7 at one point in the third, after allowing a 9-1 Medford run, the Hodags got to within a point at 22-21 following a Kahlie Arneson ace late in the set. However, after a Rhinelander attacking error, Medford was able to serve out the final two points to take the match.
"I keep telling the girls trust the process," Rhinelander coach Jim Povolo said. "We play a little bit better each and every time and we're going to get there. This is a tough team, no doubt about it, and I felt we were super competitive there in that third. As long as we keep getting better, incrementally, then we're heading in the right direction."
Rhinelander got off to a slow start in each of the first two sets. Medford (2-1) was in control from the start in the first, starting the match on a 10-3 run. The Hodags got to within 16-8 on an Ariel Pauer block kill followed by a Medford attacking error, but Medford responded with a 9-1 run to close out the set.
The momentum carried over into the second set for the Raiders as they took eight of the first nine points. Rhinelander chipped away, eventually closing to within 20-15, but service errors ultimately doomed the Hodags in the second set. They had six in that set alone as they fell into an 0-2 hole.
Povolo said he was encouraged by the fact that his team seemed to improve with each set on Tuesday night.
"Aside from the scores, if we look at the play, the first set was a debacle. The second set was slightly better, but I think in the third set we can really be proud with the way we were playing," he said. "That's how we're capable. We don't have a lot of margin for error, so we have to clean up some of those silly errors that we tend to make and I think we're going to get over that hump and surprise somebody."
Povolo pointed to two key moves in the third set that helped stem the tide.
The first was moving junior Reagan Hartman into the lineup at defensive specialist. The second was moving sophomore Ava Lamers to an outside hitter.
"Reagan Hartman, I put her in there in the third set at a DS and I think, arguably, she was the most solid defensive player that we had in that whole set," he said. "Based on that, I think we have to take a look at keeping her in that lineup. Then Ava Lamers, moving her out to the outside. Honestly, that was the most power of just a couple of kills that I've seen all year from that outside position. If we can start getting some production from out there, it spreads the blockers out and keeps them honest. They can't just collapse to the middle."
Lamers finished with a team-high four kills in the match while Arneson chipped in three kills and a pair of service aces. Hartman had four digs in the back row while libero Hannah Worachek led Rhinelander with eight digs. Olivia TerBeest had a team-high 10 assists while Pauer chipped in one block.
Rhinelander (0-3 GNC) traveled to Lakeland on Thursday night in a match that concluded after deadline. Next up, the Hodags venture outside the GNC for the only time this season as they travel to Ashland Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with the Oredockers.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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