Colfax volleyballers nab second set thriller before falling to Blackhawks

By Cara L. Dempski

BLOOMER — Colfax knows how to win, but early in 2017 the young team is working on consistency.

The Lady Vikings may still have some kinks to work out, but they managed to take away a set from the Blackhawks Tuesday, August 29 in Bloomer. Ultimately, the Colfax ladies fell to the Hawks 3-1 in a match where Viking head coach Pam Meredith saw a few things to improve on.

“Our serve receive still needs work,” Meredith said. “I thought we passed well intermittently. Ultimately, we need to increase our hitting efficiency, otherwise we will find ourselves taking more losses than we like.”

The Lady Hawks took the first game 25-14, and had the Vikings on the ropes in the second with a 17-7 lead when Colfax came roaring back to eventually take the game 30-28 and pull even 1-1. The Hawks then finished off the Colfax girls 25-14 and 25-10 for the W.

Hitter Kameri Meredith fired nine kill shots and a pair of aces to lead the offense. Alyssa Dachel matched Meredith on aces, while Savannah Henricks and Rachel Scharlau earned an ace apiece. Scharlau also tied with Samantha Prestasky on kills with each player logging six apiece.

Jozie Buchanan contributed five kills and led the team in assists with 15 to her credit. Makayla Mattson provided four kills, and Henricks is credited with two. Josie Steinke and Taylor Irwin each logged four assists, and Kaitlyn Field recorded one.

Defensively, Meredith and Pretasky are the only two players to chalk up blocks. Kameri picked up a solo and an assist, while Pretasky was credited with a block assist.

Meredith also provided 14 digs against the Blackhawks, with Dachel and Irwin reeling in 11 apiece. Henricks chalked up 10 digs, Buchanan accounted for nine, Scharlau picked up six, Mattson had four, and Pretasky is credited with two.

The Vikings took the holiday weekend off and are back in action September 7 at Somerset. They will also play at Hudson September 9. They are currently 3-5.