Colfax Volleyball squad earns four wins in busy week

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The Lady Vikes Volleyball team had a busy week as they played in several non-conference matches as well as opened the Dunn-St. Croix conference season with a win over Elmwood/Plum City.

In Colfax’s first match-up of the week last Tuesday, September 17, the Vikings slammed the door shut on the Somerset Spartans with a three-set sweep at home by scores of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17. The Vikings’ own Taylor Irwin was a force from the service line as she led with six aces against the Spartans.

Two days later, Colfax hosted the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves  to open the 2019 D-SC conference season. The Vikings prevailed 3-1 in the Thursday, September 19 match. Colfax took the first two sets 25-16 and 25-14. Elmwood/Plum City rose up to take the third game 25-20 but Colfax rallied back to take the set and match in the fourth set 25-15. The Wolves intensity put some pressure on Colfax in all four sets, but after collecting themselves the Vikings went on to win the last set 25-15.

Colfax then traveled to Cameron this past Saturday, September 21, and went 2-2 against St. Croix Falls, Barron, Rice Lake and Prairie Farm.  Colfax beat Barron and Rice Lake and suffered losses against Prairie Farm in three very close sets (25-23, 25-27 and 13-15) and St. Croix Falls.

Colfax was in Glenwood City last evening, (Tuesday, September 24) and will host Clear Lake in a Thursday, September 26 non-conference match before welcoming Mondovi next Tuesday, October 1.

Somerset

The Vikings kicked off their busy week by hosting the Somerset Spartans last Tuesday evening, September 17. Colfax grabbed the win over the Middle Border squad in three sets by scores of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17.

“A nice non-conference win at home to start off the week,” said head coach Pam Meredith. “I am seeing good things happening on the floor, but in general I know that we have some areas of growth we need to work on.”

Kameri Meredith and Sam Pretasky were the top kill leaders with Meredith having eight and Pretasky with nine, Pretasky managed a 52.9 kill percentage while Meredith had a 42.1 in her 19 attempts.

Leading the way from the serving line was Taylor Irwin, who was also named this week’s athlete of the week for Colfax, with six aces against the Spartans. She also had nine digs in the three-set match.

“We get sloppy at times and lose focus which will come back and bite us against teams that get out of the block fast,” Meredith explained.

Senior libero Addy Olson has settled into her new position as she posted 12 digs during the three-set win on Tuesday evening, and taking charge on assists was Jozie Buchanan with 22.

“Our big focus will be to continue to play with passion and energy while developing trusting relationships with their teammates,” said Meredith.

Elmwood/Plum City

Colfax was once again at home on Thursday, September 19 as the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves made their way to the land of the Vikings for the opening of the 2019 Dunn-St. Croix conference season. The Wolves were able to put a little pressure on the Lady Vikings.

Colfax, despite a loss in the third set, pulled off a win in four sets with scores of 25-16, 25-14, 25-20.

“When you mix two schools together you get the best of the best,” said coach Meredith. “Set three was a calamity of errors for the Vikings along with the timely attacks and digs by EPC.”

Sam Pretasky held the top spot on the attack as she put up 13 kills against the Wolves, during the fourth set. Pretasky came alive as she made her way to the net and found the open floor to put a point on the board for Colfax. Pretasky also had a serving run of 15 in the second set that started at 6-3 and would run until 21-4.

Several other Vikings went on serving runs which included Kameri Meredith, Jozie Buchanan, and Taylor Irwin.

During the third set, the Wolves would find a rhythm that led to errors on the Colfax side as the Vikings were fighting to call the ball and get it back over the net. Despite a quick recovery by Colfax, it was not enough as the 25th point would fly out into the crowd to give EPC the set-three win.

“Hats off to them as they are a young talented team with a knowledgeable coaching staff,” said Meredith. “They could be the spoiler in some conference matches this year!”

Colfax rebounded to win the fourth set and match.

Senior Kameri Meredith led Colfax on the defense with 14 digs against EPC, Meredith also had nine kills which has put her 144 away from reaching 1,000 kills in her high school career.

Also having a big night for the Vikings were Rachel Scharlau with ten kills and Jozie Buchanan, who tallied 35 assists.

Cameron

Colfax traveled to Cameron for the last invitational of the regular season and split in their four matches.

The Vikings tournament got off to a rather rough start as they were swept by a strong St. Croix Falls team in the opening match, 25-20 and 25-14. Colfax then took on Prairie Farm and once again fell short, losing in  three sets 25-23, 25-27 and 13-15.

But after the frustrating start, Colfax finished the day with wins over Barron and Rice Lake.

Colfax downed Barron 2-1 to one. After losing the first set 24-26, the Lady Vikings came out with 26-24 and 16-14 wins in the final two sets. In their final match at the Cameron Invite, Colfax scored a 2-0 win over Rice Lake with scores of 25-20 and 25-17.

“I was frustrated with our lack of energy and confidence when playing the first two matches of the day,” said coach Meredith. “It is troubling at this time in the season that I have to constantly remind players what their job is on the floor and watch our inability to take care of the ball.”

Samantha Pretasky and Kameri Meredith led the Vikings in kills with 33 and 32 respectively, Pretasky also had nine blocked kills and Meredith had seven.

Leading on assists was Jozie Buchanan who finished with 48 and 10 aces from the serving line.

“Fundamentally and volleyball IQ wise we are much stronger than we showed, and with nine seniors suiting and playing I would expect to see a higher level of consistent play,” coach Meredith stated.

The Vikings have relied on Meredith and Pretasky to light up the offense and defense, but have lacked supporting the two seniors during play.

“We must have more players step it up and get gritty offensively and defensively,” explained coach Meredith. “We have some lofty goals for the season which means we need to step up our play.”