Colfax netters survive in five sets over Webster, sweep SCF, fall to Grantsburg
The number three seeded Colfax volleyball team needed to come from behind after being down two sets to one when they hosted the number six seed Webster Tigers in the first round of regional play Oct. 20. They managed to pull themselves together just in time as they finished off the match by winning the next two sets.
The win sent them to St. Croix Falls two days later to face the number two seeded Saints and made the trip there and back longer than the actual match when they won in three sets. Then it was time to head to Grantsburg to face the number one seeded Pirates for a Saturday evening contest and a chance to take a second consecutive regional championship. Their effort fell short against a well-schooled team of Pirates as they ended their season with a three set loss.
Webster
Colfax may have taken the Tigers a little lightly after they won the first set 25-12. But Webster plays some mighty tough competition up north in the Lakewood West Conference including the state ranked Grantsburg team along with St. Croix Falls and Unity. The score was tied early in the first set before Lakken Meredith served up an ace and Marianne Scharlau took control of the net and scored on two kills, then moved back to serve her own ace and give Colfax a 9-6 lead. Leading 10-7, the Vikings’ Serena Secraw went to the service line and found herself right at home as all eight of her serves resulted in points for her team when Webster failed to execute any type of offense. With the score at 22-12, Bryana Buchanan nailed a kill from mid-court, Meredith and Scharlau combined for a block and Secraw finished off the set by denying a kill attempt from a Tiger player at the net.
Colfax took a 5-2 lead in the second set before the Tigers tied it at 7-7 then pulled ahead 12-7 using their big guns Sophie Phernetton and Kaitlyn Moser who began to find some holes in the Vikings’ defense. Megan Schleusner came up with a cross court kill and Secraw scored on an ace to get Colfax back to 10-12, but the Vikings were struggling in the back row and at the net as they gave up three straight kills down the middle of the court. Scharlau took control again as she used Meredith’s sets to score on a tip, a block and a kill to get Colfax to within a point down 16-17. After Webster upped their lead to 19-16, the Vikings got back to within a point three more times but couldn’t get over the hump and the Tigers scored the final three points, two on slams down the middle, to win 25-21.
When Colfax took a 10-5 lead in the third set in part by kills from Scharlau and Secraw, along with another Meredith ace and a tip shot from Savannah Henricks, Viking fans began to breathe a little easier. But not for long as it turned out after Webster knotted it up with a five point run before Colfax used a pair of Tiger errors and a Henricks tip to go back up 13-10. That lead didn’t last either as the score was knotted at 16-16, 18-18 and again at 22-22 on a Makayla Mattson kill. Webster went ahead on a Colfax error but Secraw slammed the ball to the floor for yet another tie. But another misplayed ball by the Vikings and a Webster kill gave the Tigers set number three at 25-23.
“We had a great start in the first set,” coach Pam Meredith said. “We maintained our focus and got the job done. But we faltered in the second, third and first part of the fourth set and were unable to make the adjustments needed to stop Webster’s shot selection. Webster served very tough and we had a lapse of fundamentals on our serve reception which is usually a strong point for us.”
After Scharlau scored on back to back kills to put Colfax up 7-6 in the fourth set, the Tigers pulled ahead 11-7 before Meredith scored on a tip shot. Buchanan slammed a point from her mid-court position again to get the Vikings closer at 10-12 but Webster scored on a tip and an ace to make it 17-11 to make things look rather dismal for the Vikings at this point. But showing their resiliency as they have done many times this season, they simply kept their cool and played their style of game as Schleusner went to the service line after a side out when Scharlau scored at the net. It was Webster’s turn to struggle on the serve returns as they committed three errors while Scharlau scored off a block, and after Meredith saved a point on a dig with her back to the net, the ball went up to Scharlau who tipped it over to tie the score at 17-17. Scharlau and Meredith combined for a block, Secraw slammed a kill down the line and after another Scharlau smack, Secraw scored on a cross court shot and it was 21-17. At 23-18 for the Vikings, Mattson and Meredith combined for a block and when Webster hit the ball into the net, Colfax had the set 25-18.
The Tigers went up quickly 3-0 in the final set but the senior duo of Meredith and Scharlau took over as they scored off a combined block, Meredith sent a push shot deep into the Tigers’ court and Erin Nellessen followed with her own push shot. They added three more points for a 6-3 lead and they never gave up that lead the rest of the way. Buchanan added another kill, Scharalu helped with a block and an ace serve and a Webster error made it 11-5 before the Tigers got back to within three points, but a tip from Henricks made it 13-9 and game set and finally match went to Colfax after a Tiger error and a final Colfax kill..
“Our seniors stepped up and pulled the team together,” coach Meredith said. “They did not want to end their season this early. After Webster started hitting the middle we made adjustments at the net and in the back row. And we were getting the ball up to the setter for her to get it to a lot of different players to keep them off guard. It was just a great team effort and we need everyone to contribute like this to keep on winning,” she added.
Scharlau finished with 13 kills, two ace serves, four solo blocks and six assisted blocks while Meredith slammed five kills with a team leading five aces and 43 assists along with three solo and four assisted blocks and 13 digs. Schleusner finished with six kills, a pair of aces and 19 digs, Secraw came up with 10 kills, three aces and 20 digs, Buchanan from her back court libero position added five kills and a team leading 27 kills, Mattson added three kills, two solo blocks and two assisted blocks and eight digs and Henricks came up with a couple of kills and a dig to go with Nellessen’s 14 digs.
St. Croix Falls
Coach Meredith had argued during the seeding meeting that her team should receive the number two seed due to the fact they were conference champions but the powers that be didn’t agree, therefore the game was at St. Croix Falls rather than Colfax. But the Vikings had a chance to take in the fall colors on the trip before playing what Meredith said was “one of the most solid matches this group of girls has put together all year.” Facing three players at least 5’11 or taller, Colfax took them out of their game plan by sticking to their own plan from the first whistle on.
Colfax took a commanding 14-5 lead in set one and moved to a 20-10 advantage before winning the set 25-18 after the Saints were called for banging into the net. The Vikings again jumped all over the Saints to start the second set 8-1 but like the Webster match, they let their opponents get back in it to knot things at 14-14. But Schleusner went to the service line and before she was done, her team was up 21-15 as Meredith set up four different players including Buchanan, Secraw, Mattson and Scharlau for kills. Schleusner moved up front and put the shot to the floor for the 25-16 win. After a 3-3 tie in the third set, Colfax started blowing the ball past the taller Saints and visibly frustrated them when they dug just about every one of their kill attempts up as they went up 16-6. Buchanan put down the set and match point with a kill from her usual center court spot for a 25-12 win.
“SCF had a very talented team with some great hitters but we were able to serve them tough and Scharlau and Meredith put up solid blocks to take them out of their game,” she added.
Scharlau had a team leading 12 kills in the short match with four blocks and four digs, Buchanan added seven kills and 13 digs, Meredith finished with six kills, four of the Vikings’ seven ace serves, three blocks and a team leading 15 digs and 27 assists. Secraw helped out with five slams and nine digs and with Henricks out for the match with a foot injury that occured in the Webster game, Kaitlyn Field stepped up with a dig and an assist and Mady Decker collected a pair of digs.
Grantsburg
There is a reason there are two gold volleyballs and seven silver ones in the trophy case of the lobby of the Grantsburg High School gym. Although Colfax had beaten the Pirates in a regional final a year ago, Grantsburg is noted for their strong volleyball program, and on this night they showed off their geometry skills as they slammed balls at all different angles while blocking and digging many of the Colfax shots throughout the match.
The Vikings were looking good when they went up 3-0 in the first set on a Nellessen kill, a Buchanan ace and a Scharlau tip but after the score was tied at 8-8, the Pirates started to find some holes in the Colfax defense and slowly began to pull away. After falling behind 10-15, Schleusner broke the run with a spike to the floor and a push from Scharalu kept them within four down 12-16. But they couldn’t put any runs together and ended up dropping the set 16-25.
Colfax fell behind 0-3 in the second set before Schleusner came down with another kill but again Grantsburg used their endless pressure at the net to force several Colfax errors. After falling behind by as much as six points several times, the Vikings managed to climb back to within two points on two occasions with a Henricks kill, another Buchanan ace and two Scharlau shots. But after being down 15-17, they couldn’t get over the hump and the Pirates continued to steer their ship through their defense to win the set 25-16.
With their backs against the wall again, the Vikings recorded 11 kills and three ace serves in the third set, but after missing just one serve in the two prior sets, they had four missed serves in this set. The score was knotted at 7-7 and Scharlau put her team up with a slam and a Pirate error (one of the few they committed during the match) which made it 9-7 for the Vikings. And yet again, Grantsburg used those sharp angles to send the ball past the Colfax defenders at the net and in the backcourt to pull ahead 17-11 before Secraw broke the run with a slam. Scharlau served an ace to get her team to within four, down 15-19 and after a Buchanan kill and an ace from Secraw, they were still in reach behind 17-21. They remained down by four at 19-23 and 20-24 on two more Scharalu slams but that was as close as they would get however, and they ended their season with a 20-25 loss.
“Comparing our scores with similar opponents of Grantsburg, I thought we matched up better than our scores showed,” coach Meredith said. “But they were a force to reckon with tonight. They served us tough and put us on the defense all night and all we could do was free ball it back over. When we did attack they came up with some great digs. We were hoping to recreate our excellent play from the SCF game but it just didn’t happen,” she added.
Scharlau ended her season with a team leading seven kills while Schleusner added six and Buchanan and Secraw four each. Meredith and Buchanan both had a pair of ace serves, Schleusner and Meredith came up with 13 digs each and Buchanan 12. Meredith again led in assists with 25 of the team’s 28.