Spikers bounce back from BRC loss

The Raider volleyball team dropped a five-set match at Rice Lake last Tuesday before going undefeated at the Maple Northwestern Tournament Saturday.

The Raiders will compete at the Cretin-Derham Hall Tournament this Saturday, Oct. 2.

Last Tuesday at Rice Lake, Hudson dropped the first two sets, 23-25 and 18-25, before winning the next two, 25-22 and 25-17, to tie the match. They took an early lead in the fifth and deciding set before losing, 11-15 to drop to-2-2 in Big Rivers Conference play.

“Overall, there was just too much inconsistency throughout the match,” coach Dennis Saathoff said. “We played well in spurts and then poorly in spurts. We just couldn’t keep things together for an extended period of time.”

Despite the loss, Saathoff said Britni Eberlin and Jamie Lindstrom had their best hitting nights of the season to lead the team in kills and Katrina Zenz had a career-best nine blocks.

While the Raider serving percentage was down, Amber Saathoff finished with four aces while adding four kills and 12 assists. Elle Schwartz finished with five kills and three blocks and Stephanie Little added four kills and five blocks.

Things went better Saturday at the Maple Northwestern Tournament, where the Raiders went 4-0 to win the tournament title. Hudson defeated Ironwood 25-12, 25-10, Amery 25-20, 25-12, and Superior 25-14, 25-13 in round robin play before defeating Cameron 25-17, 25-21 in the title match.

Strong serving sparked the Raiders in their early victories, with every Raider server recording at least one ace against Ironwood, led by Amber Saathoff with six. Saathoff and Maddie Drewiske recorded five aces each in the win over Amery as the Raiders made just one serving error in the entire match.

Six Raiders recorded multiple kills in the win over Superior — Eberlin, Zenz, Alex Belanger, Little, Drewiske and Saathoff, while Hannah Wirth went through her second straight match without making a serve reception error.

The Raiders recorded just five aces in the championship match against Cameron but the defense came up big as Zenz recorded five blocks, Saathoff had four, Schwartz three and Belanger and Little two apiece. Torrie Traynor picked up multiple digs in the win as well.

Saathoff said the Raider attack was very well balanced, with Eberlin, Lindstrom and Drewiske recording eight kills from the left side, Zenz and Little posting seven from the middle and Amber Saathoff four from the right.

Ashley Fall led the team in assists with eight.

“We really had a solid day, which pleased me greatly,” Saathoff said. “I was worried about a three hour bus ride the morning after homecoming. Although we had some sloppy moments early in the day, the girls got stronger as the day went on and they all pulled together to make the trip worthwhile.”

Tags: sports, volleyball, raiders, prep