Mounders dump Durand, lose to Boyceville to stay even in DSC

By Cara L. Dempski

Elk Mound volleyball coach Sam Weix said her team had no excuse to drop its first conference match against Mondovi. She explained the Mounders are better players than what was seen in the Lady Buffaloes’ gym on September 15.

The Mounders came out swinging the following week to sweep Plum City.

Elk Mound’s home match against Durand on last Tuesday, September 27 was no different, as the Mounders nabbed another sweep, beating the Panthers 25-20, 25-14 and 27-25. The two wins left Elk Mound with a 2-1 record in the DSC to stay in the middle of the pack.

Two days later, the Mounders faced a Bulldogs’ team still smarting from a deflating five-set loss to Colfax on September 27. The Elk Mound squad topped Boyceville 25-17 in the first set before dropping the last three sets 25-14, 25-12 and 25-16 of the match played in Boyceville on September 29. The loss dropped the Mounders record to 2-2 in conference matches.

Elk Mound traveled to a Saturday, October 1 tournament at Mondovi High School. There, the Mounders won every set until their final match with Menomonie, when they dropped the second set but won the match. Elk Mound beat host Mondovi 25-17 and 25-23, swept Gilmanton 25-19 and 25-8, and bested Independence 25-11 in both sets.

The Menomonie Mustangs posed a larger challenge for the Mounders. Elk Mound won the first set 25-18, but then dropped the second 26-24. The Mounder squad then duked it out with the Mustangs in the third to take the 15-13 win and the overall match.

Coach Weix said the Mounders have fought to stay consistent all season, and had difficulty passing off the Bulldog serves. It’s something the team will have to work on, as some of Elk Mound’s toughest competition is yet to come.

The Mounders played host to conference rivals Colfax last night.

The competition will be tough again when Elk Mound heads to Spring Valley for a match on Thursday, October 6, before heading that way on October 11 to face Elmwood.

Durand

The Mounders started slow against the Panthers when Durand raced out to a 1-6 lead in the first set of their September 27 match in Elk Mound. Weix’s team dug in and pushed back to draw even at 11 before making short work of the rest of the set, winning the 20-minute set 25-11.

“The girls took total control of the second set,” Weix said.

Coach Weix said the offense found a good groove and the team passed well all night.

Sophomore Morgan Radtke nailed 20 of Elk Mound’s 48 attacks against the Panthers on September 27. Allie Weber, who rained down another 10 kills, joined Radtke. Riley Radtke and Kourtney Zurbuchen each took credit for six kill shots, Lauren Scharlau added two more, and Karie Jo Nigon picked up the final two.

Weber also served for three aces. Madysen Borofka was the only other ace-winner, taking credit for one.

Defensively, Weber picked up 21 digs to lead the team in foiled attacks. Abby Curry picked up 13 more, while senior Sarah Sweeney accounted for eight. Borofka and Nigon tied at seven digs apiece, and Morgan Radtke and Alex Jenson copped another 10 between them.

Riley Radtke turned back four kill shots, and Zurbuchen and Scharlau each grabbed three digs.

The Mounders were up 21-13 when the Panthers started an aggressive push. While Elk Mound stuck it out for the win, Weix indicated the team would have to finish games and not allow other teams to close the gap like that as they move into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Boyceville

The Mounders went into Boyceville last Thursday looking to capitalize on their momentum from two straight wins and improve their conference record to 3-1. Instead, the Bulldogs handed the Elk Mound their second conference loss of 2016 and dropped their overall record to 9-16.

Prior to the game, Coach Weix stated “Our girls will need to be on their A-game tonight, and that’s going to have to start with our blocking at the net.”

It was critical for Elk Mound to pick up their blocking game against Boyceville after not recording any blocks in the previous match against Durand. Weix said the blockers would need to be on their “A-game” to slow down Boyceville’s hitters.

She said after the game that Boyceville came into the game ready to compete. Whenever the Mounders gave the Bulldogs a great serve, the Boyceville squad seemed to find a way to return it. Add hitters like Madysen Riek and Hannah Guy to the equation, and Weix estimated her team got maybe 10 free balls the entire match.

“It was a tough loss for us,” Weix said. “Especially when you don’t play to your potential.”

Despite the loss, the Mounders put up some respectable numbers with 116 total attacks and 34 kills. They appeared to spend most of the evening on defense, though, as evidenced by the team’s 61 digs.

Sophomore Morgan Radtke contributed three blocks to the team and kept the ball in play on five attacks, while offensively she landed nine kills on the Bulldogs.

Radtke’s older sister, Riley, took care of seven kills for the Mounders and provided a dig on defense. Junior Allie Weber added six more kills, a block, and a team-leading 15 digs. Lauren Scharlau chalked up five kills and four digs.

Kourtney Zurbuchen spiked down four kills and Karie Jo Nigon shot in another three to round out the Mounders’ kill squad. Nigon turned away 11 Bulldog attacks, and Zurbuchen logged three digs. Other defensive contributors were Sarah Sweeney with five digs, Madysen Borofka with four digs, Abby Curry with 12, and Alex Jenson with one dig.

Jenson was also responsible for the team’s lone ace against Boyceville.

Mondovi Tournament

Elk Mound’s second match of the season  against Mondovi had a different outcome from the first. Mondovi beat Elk Mound 3-1 in the conference opener back on September 15 but the Mounders exacted a bit of revenge when it swept the Lady Buffaloes 2-0 in the October 1 tournament hosted by Mondovi.

Morgan Radtke and Allie Weber accounted for nearly half of the Mounders’ 22 kills with five each. Kourtney Zurbuchen and Lauren Scharlau each took credit for four more kills each, and Riley Radtke and Karie Jo Nigon evenly split the team’s last four kills in the match.

Sweeney and Nigon led the team with two unanswered serves each, While Weber and Madysn Borofka and Abby Curry recorded one ace apiece.

Defensively, Weber put up 10 digs, and Nigon answered with nine more to provide half of Elk Mound’s 40 digs in the match. Other contributors were Curry with four digs, Sweeney with three, the Radtke sisters with two each, and Borofka, Zurbuchen and Alex Jenson taking one dig each.

Gilmanton matched up against Elk Mound next, and the Mounders again walked away with a 2-0 win. Morgan Radtke nailed seven kill shots and Weber added six more. Riley Radtke drilled in here kills, Zurbuchen logged two, and Nigon chalked up one.

Nigon again led the team in unanswered serves after taking credit for 12 aces against Gilmanton. Borofka added five more, and Curry and Zurbuchen split another two aces. Digs were somewhat scarce in the match, as Morgan Radtke led the team with only four. Weber and Lauren Scharlau added another three digs each, while Borofka and Zurbuchen provided another four to the team total. Sweeney, Nigon, Curry and Jenson each recorded one dig in the match.

The Independence Indees were up next and Elk Mound added two more set wins on identical 25-11 scores.

Morgan Radtke again led the team kill-count, recording nine in the match. Nigon and Zurbuchen each put down three spikes, and Weber and Riley Radtke set down two apiece. Scharlau added one more kill to make the team total an even 20.

Nigon led the team with aces, logging five in the match. Sweeney and Jenson each logged one ace to make the ace total seven.

Curry led the team in digs against the Indees, recording seven during the match. Sweeney and Nigon each took three digs, and the Radtke sisters and Scharlau all took one dig to make the team total 16.

The Mustangs were the last team to meet the Mounders, and the only one to have put up a substantial fight. Elk Mound eventually prevailed 2-1 in the match.

As in the other matches, Morgan Radtke led the kill count, sending down kill shots. Weber added five kills, and Zurbuchen and Riley Radtke each took credit for three attack points. Scharlau and Nigon split another four kills between them, and Borofka added one more.

Nigon led on aces with three, while Borofka and Curry added two more each.

Weber led the dig count with nine, and Nigon followed her closely with seven digs. Sweeney, Zurbuchen, Scharlau and Curry all tied with four digs each, and the Radtke sisters and Jenson split another nine among them. Borofka contributed two more digs to make the match total 43.