By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Thursday night the Merrill volleyball team hosted Wisconsin Valley Conference rival, Wausau West. Merrill would fall in the first set, however would come back to get a five set win.
“Tonight was a very exciting match to say the least.” Comments Merrill coach Kris Krug. “Going into set one, our passing was off and defensively we couldn’t pick up a ball. However, at the end of that set our passing improved and we were able to get our offense going.”
In the first set West won by a score of 25-19. The second set saw a back and forth battle, with Merrill coming out on top with a 25-23 win. In the third set Merrill played very well, winning the set by a score of 25-18. The fourth set was very closely contested, with West needing to score 27 to top the Jays’ 25. Merrill would then bounce back in the final set to win the match, with a score of 15-8.
“We finished the night in set 5, Eve Akey was back serving and kept us up with a lead of 9-0. West still managed to chip away at us, but we continued to swing hard and play smart to take the win.” Coach Krug concluded.
Elizabeth Iribarren led the Jays attack, coming away with 15 kills in the game. Rylee Mracheck also had a solid showing, ending the game with 14 kills. Merrill was good on their serves in the game, serving 95% as a team. Leading servers include Kelly Paige who served 100% on 18 attempts. Kelsie Belfiori served 93% on 15 attempts and Kaylee Bowe came away with 92% on 17 attempts. Belfiori would also lead the Jays in digs, ending the game with 28. Paige would also do good work in that department, coming away with 19 digs.
With this win Merrill moves to 2-0 in conference play and 25-6 overall. The Jays will look to improve their conference record further as they travel to Wisconsin Rapids next Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.