Colfax volleyball takes down Boyceville and Spring Valley to remain unbeaten in conference play

By Cara L. Dempski

Pam Meredith’s Viking volleyball team might not know the meaning of the word “quit.”

Colfax was 2-0 in the conference games going into their September 27 match against the Boyceville Bulldogs, one of three unbeaten Dunn-St. Croix team at that time. The Vikings had just played the Bulldogs three days prior at an invitational at Cameron High School and walked away from the September 24 match with a 1-2 loss to Boyceville.

But last Tuesday at home, the tables were turned.

Knotted at two sets apiece, the Vikings found themselves trailing seven to nothing in the fifth and deciding set prompting Colfax to take a time out. Coach Meredith said the team talked during a time-out about “flipping the scoreboard” by making smart decisions and staying composed.

That is just what the Vikings did. They rallied for a thrilling 16-14 fifth-set win to take a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs. Colfax won the opening set of the duel 25-19 before dropping the next two 25-17 and 25-22 but came back to force a fifth set with a 25-21 win in the four set.

Colfax then went to the swift-swinging Spring Valley Cardinals two days later where the Vikings walked away with 3-1 victory in September 29 conference match. The Vikings dropped the first set, 25-22, before winning the next three 25-23, 25-12 and 25-19 to keep their D-SC recored unblemished.

The Vikings, now 4-0 in conference and tied with Mondovi for first place and 13-9 overall continued conference play when they traveled to conference rival Elk Mound last night. Colfax will head home to take on Elmwood October 6 before hitting the road for a match with the Hilltoppers in Glenwood City on October 11.

Boyceville

The September 27 meeting of the Vikings and Bulldogs seemed to start much like the match played in Cameron on September 24. Colfax won the first game 25-19, but then dropped the next two 25-17 and 25-22.

The Vikings and Bulldogs traded point for point in the fourth before Colfax found a rhythm and capitalized on it to beat Boyceville 25-21.

“This was definitely a nice win for us, especially after fighting back from being down two sets to one,” Meredith said.

She praised the team’s composure as they battled their way out of a five-point deficit in the fourth set and forced the Bulldogs into a fifth. Colfax won the match on a Boyceville serve that was ruled out-of-bounds by officials, but the Bulldogs believed was in.

Kameri Meredith led the team in attacks, landing 13 kills against the Bulldogs. Makayla Mattson nailed eight more attack points, which freshman Rachel Scharlau recorded another seven.

Freshman Sam Pretasky took credit for another six kills, Savannah Henricks accounted for four scoring attacks, Bryana Buchanan dropped in another three spikes, sister Jozie Buchanan nailed two, and Megan Schleusner took credit for one.

Meredith also accounted for five of the team’s 13 aces. Mady Decker and Jozie Buchanan landed another three aces apiece, and Bryana Buchanan and Pretasky each recorded an unanswered serve.

Senior Bryana Buchanan took control of the defenders in the backcourt, turning away 34 Bulldog attacks during the match. She was joined in the double-digit dig club by her sister, Jozie, with 22, Meredith with 18, Schleusner with 17, and Decker with 10. Erin Nellessen, Scharlau, Mattson, Emma Hurlburt, Taylor Irwin, Pretasky and Henricks took credit for the remainder of the team’s digs.

Meredith expressed pride in her young team, and stated both teams should be proud of the match that was played. She said there were several great volleys and some tremendous athletes on the floor.

“I thought it was an amazing match between two teams who played hard from start to finish,” Meredith said. “Boyceville has a very talented team.”

Coach Meredith named Bulldogs Madysn Riek and Hannah Guy as two players who did significant damage to the Vikings after the Colfax girls seemed to lose track of their blocking assignments. Riek used the disarray to drive home several ace serves.

Spring Valley

Coach Meredith said the team had 11 hitting errors and missed three serves in the first set against Spring Valley. She took some time to talk to her team about playing a better game after the first set.

“Obviously you can’t expect to hand a team 14 points and still win the set,” Meredith said. “We talked about re-focusing and playing to the best of our ability, and ultimately that we were already playing hard, but we needed to play smarter.”

As a result, the Vikings had only 14 attack errors in the following three sets and wound up copping the win on strong offensive play against another young, talented team.

Freshman Rachel Scharlau led the team with kills, taking credit for 13 of the team’s 46. Sam Pretasky followed her with another eight scoring attacks, while Kameri Meredith and Makayla Mattson drilled in another 14 between them. Savannah Henricks and Briana Buchanan each spiked in four kills each, and Jozie Buchanan landed the final three for the total.

The team was short on aces for the night, nabbing only 12 unanswered serves. Libero Bryana Buchanan led the way with three, while Megan Schleusner, Jozie Buchanan, Meredith and Pretasky each took two apiece. Mady Decker added another ace.

Bryana Buchanan ended her week by taking another 34 digs to assist her team on its way to 103 digs. Meredith followed Buchanan with 21 returned attacks, and Jozie Buchanan foiled 12.

Schleusner and Decker had 19 digs between them, Scharlau logged eight, Henricks earned five, and Pretasky and Mattson each took two.

Meredith noted that serving errors continued through the match, but the offense stepped up, which shows in the set scores.

Cameron Tournament

The Colfax volleyball team played five matches in Cameron, winning two and losing three in the September 24 invitational.

Head coach Pam Meredith said there were moments of brilliance that were countered by moments that were not so brilliant.

“We handily defeated some teams, but then obviously took a mental and physical break in set two,” Meredith said. “That can’t happen.”

Meredith noted the team is young and is learning how to sustain its energy and focus throughout an entire match. She stated it was something the team will continue to work on.

The Vikings took on Rice Lake’s Warrior squad and lost in a two-set sweep, 25-22 and 25-18. They next met conference rivals Boyceville and won the first set 25-23 before dropping the final two 25-16 and 15-11.

The Prairie Farm Panthers were the next team Colfax took on, and this time they topped the scores, winning 2-0 with scores of 25-18 and 25-21. The team again grabbed the first set against the Cameron Comets, winning handily with a score of 25-9. They dropped the final two sets 25-13 and 15-12.

In the final game, the Vikings defeated the Fall Creek Crickets, winning the first set 25-11 before dropping the second 25-22. Colfax won the third 15-11 to take the match.

Freshman Kameri Meredith set down 19 kills and had eight unanswered serves. Makayla Mattson took credit for 28 kills, and Rachel Scharlau added another 20.

Megan Schleusner is credited with five serve aces for the weekend, and senior libero Bryana Buchanan provided 61 digs to keep the ball in play.