Elk Mound netters defeat Colfax, move to 4-0 in D-SC Conference play

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

After sweeping Boyceville two days earlier, Elk Mound brought their volleyball team to Colfax September 29, looking for a win and the chance to remain undefeated in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play. In a tight battle, the Mounders prevailed three sets to one and are now 4-0 in the conference, while the Vikings, who lost to Spring Valley two days earlier are now 2-2.

The last 13 years, the D-SC Conference has been dominated by the Vikings with the Mounders battling them for the title. The teams split matches in the 2020 COVID-shortened season but the Vikings won every match from 2009-2019 and again in 2021. Six times in those years it came down to a Viking-Mounder matchup to determine the conference champion with the Vikings prevailing each time.

Set number one in this contest saw the Mounders use a seven-point run after the teams were knotted 3-3 to go up 10-3. Colfax fought back with a McKenna Shipman ace serve and a Jada Anderson block combined with several Mounder errors to cut the Elk Mound lead to 11-8. The Mounders maintained a three-five point advantage until they mis-hit on three kill attempts and the score was tied at 15-15. It was knotted at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18 before the Mounders began to pull away with Gracie Carlton slamming a kill for a 21-18 advantage. Stella Rhude smacked a ball to the floor to put Elk Mound at set point, 24-20 and Lydia Levra sent an ace serve over for the final set point at 25-20.

The Mounders flew out of the gate in set two, jumping to a 4-0 lead before the Viking’s Maci Harvey scored on a kill shot. Harvey served up an ace and Jeanette Hydukovich scored on a tip and an ace serve to put Colfax up 5-4. Rhude and Carlton slammed kills to tie it up 5-5 and 6-6, and Hydukovich put down a cross court kill which was countered by Carlton’s slam and it was 7-7. Serving errors by both teams resulted in a 10-9 Colfax advantage while Raeanna Schultz served up an ace and Harvey scored on a tip at the net for a 12-9 Viking lead. They upped the lead to 20 19 on a pair of huge blocks from Hydukovich, another from Brynn Sikora and a Harvey spike. After moving to set point at 24-13 on a Sikora block and two Mounder errors, Elk Mound put a six-point run together with help from three straight kills from Carlton, a pair of unreturnable serves by Lauren Garnett and a Viking error to cut the Colfax lead to 24-18 but a final block from Jada Anderson gave the Vikings set number two 25-19.

The third set played out pretty close again with the score tied 5-5, 7-7 and 12-12 before the Vikings scored three points on an Anderson kill, a Mounder hitting error and a Hydukovich block for a 15-12 lead. A Rhude ace and a couple of Viking mistakes knotted the score at 16-16. A Mounder serving error and a Hydukovich tip put Colfax up 18-16 but slams by Allie Roder, Carlton and Rhude along with another Viking error knotted it up again at 20-20. The rest of the set resembled a boxing match with the teams punching and counter punching, resulting  in scores of 21-21, 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 before a hitting error by the Vikings and a Carlton kill gave the set to the Mounders 26-24.

The momentum seemed to be in the Mounders favor as they jumped out to a 10-2 advantage in the fourth set. Anderson stopped the bleeding temporarily with a kill but Garnett and Carlton scored on kill shots for a 13-3 lead. As the Vikings have done in so many years past, they battled back to get within a point, down 15-14 in part by a combined block from Hydukovich and Shipman, a Harvey kill and two aces from Anderson.

But the Mounders wouldn’t allow Colfax to get over the hump as they pulled ahead 17-14 with Tori Blaskowski at the service line. A pair of Mounder errors cut their lead to a single point again at 17-16 but once again they regrouped and used two blistering serves by Rhude that the Vikings couldn’t get a handle on to go up 21-17. Shipman planted her own ace for Colfax but a serving error made it 22-19 for Elk Mound. Sikora put down a final kill for Colfax before they sent two kill attempts in a row out of bounds, and it was set and match for Elk Mound at 25-19 on a serving ace.

Hydukovich and Harvey led the Vikings in kills with 11 each while Anderson tacked on eight. Harvey served up four aces, Anderson three and Schultz two and Shipman assisted her teammates for points 28 times.

No stats were available for Elk Mound.

The Mounders host fellow conference unbeatens Spring Valley and Elmwood-Plum City over the next week. The Cardinals will play in Elk Mound this Thursday with the Mounders traveling to Altoona for an Invitational on Saturday, October 8 and then Plum City next Tuesday, October 11.

Colfax, meanwhile, played a triangular Monday in Menomonie in preparation for its match against Elmwood-Plum City this Thursday. The Vikings will also participate in the Altoona Invitational before returning home on Tuesday, October 11 to host the Hilltoppers. 

Spring Valley 3, Colfax 1

The Cardinals won the first set 25-22 but the Vikings bounced back with a 25-16 second set win. They couldn’t keep up their momentum however, dropping the next two sets 25-17 and 25-21. 

Hydukovich put down 15 kills to lead the Vikings in that department, Anderson slammed 11 and Harvey eight. Harvey produced four aces from the serving line while Anderson and Sikora both had three and once again, Shipman led the team in assists with 33.

Elk Mound 3, Boyceville 0

Although the Mounders swept the Bulldogs 3-0 in Boyceville last Tuesday, September 27, it wasn’t an easy task.

Boyceville put up quite a fight on its home floor pushing Elk Mound to the brink in the first two sets before the Mounders finally won by a mere two points in extended play – 26-24 and 27-25. The Mounders jumped out to an early advantage in the third game and went on to win 25-16 to take the match.

No stats were provided.