TINA L. SCOTT On Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, the Merrill Girls Volleyball Team played against the Shawano Community Girls in a home game in the Merrill High School Field House, taking a loss in all three sets.
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“Serving for both teams was pretty equally matched,” she said, “but we really struggled to get our offense going.”
“Shawano’s hitting percentage for the night was .361, while ours was in the negative with -.011, which means we were making more errors than we were scoring points.”
“Even though as a team our offense struggled, I’m really proud of Kaela Clearveaux and Grace Hoff as they hit .667 and .429 respectively, making very few errors at the net,” Holt said. “Kaela and Grace both started to change the momentum of the game, and I truly thought that we were going to take the third set and force a fourth set. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish it.”
Box Score
Shawano 3 @ Merrill 0
(25-11, 25-11, 25-19)
On Thursday, the Merrill Girls traveled to Wisconsin Rapids where the Lady Jays beat the Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln Red Raiders in an exciting Conference match-up that came down to the fifth set to declare the match winner.
“This game was the complete opposite of Tuesday night, as we kept our fans in the stands for a full five-set match,” Holt said. “Coming off a three-loss streak, we really needed a win.”
“After that, Rapids clearly started to come together,” Holt said. “It was almost like they put out a different team.” The second set was a tight 26-24 win for Wisconsin Rapids.
The third set was another tight game, with Rapids taking the win 25-23. But in the fourth set, it was Merrill’s turn to come out ahead, and the Merrill Girls claimed a 25-18 victory, keeping the teams on the court for a fifth set to break the tie, and in the end, the Lady Jays scored the exciting 15-11 win for Merrill.
“Rapids was extremely scrappy; the girls played some of the longest volleys we’ve had all season,” Holt said. “They were communicating well and trusting each other in the back row; Ava Detert picked up 24 digs and Kendell Klug had 21. Overall, our entire back row was all over the place, making some really amazing plays. If the ball landed on our side, it was not without multiple girls chasing it down.”
“Because our defense was working like a well oiled machine, our offense was able to start having some fun of their own, including Kendell Klug with three successful back row attacks,” she said.
“Along with Kendell, Grace Hoff and Bre Raasch led us in kills for the evening,” Holt said. “Our serving was also on point with Gabby Wheeler, Kaela Clearveaux, and Grace Hoff serving 3-4 aces apiece.”
“Again, this was a win we really needed,” she said. “Even when we were losing at times, our energy was rarely down. The girls believed in themselves and they were having fun.”
“I am very proud of how they played and how they never gave up!” Holt said.
Box Score
Merrill 3 @ Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 2
(25-10, 24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11)
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