Eagles volleyball claws past Antigo in five-setter

The Northland Pines varsity volleyball team opened the Great Northern Conference season with a thrilling five-set win over the Antigo Red Robins at Northland Pines High School Thursday night. After a busy night of soccer and football also at the school, the girls’ volleyball team wrapped up the evening with a match that went the distance inside the Fieldhouse.

The Eagles finished with scores of 18-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-17 and 15-9.

Head Coach Julie Smith said despite some unforced errors throughout the night and dropping the first set, the girls never let go and worked through the adversity as a group.

“Varsity had to battle for this one. Despite too many unforced errors, the girls never gave up. They stayed tough, kept fighting and found a way to finish. I’m very proud of their tenacity,” Smith stated.

Northland Pines had to work for every point in this one, as Smith said Antigo made it difficult for the Eagles on kill attempts and seemed to find the open floor when it was attacking.

“Antigo is a very good, scrappy team. They made it extremely difficult for us to find the floor and did a great job attacking our gaps,” explained Smith. “Our defense continued to battle against Antigo’s smart ball placement and kept us in some important rallies.”

It took a collective effort to secure the win, with standout performances both offensively and defensively.
Seniors Kami Neff and Natalie Kohn each had 13 kills, with Kohn finishing with six blocks total, five being solo.

Sophomore Payton Sullivan was a key distributor with 29 assists and 17 digs on the night. Senior Lyla Lederer had eight assists and junior Eden Smith finished with 17 digs.

Northland Pines also hosted a quad meet inside the Fieldhouse last Tuesday, with Three Lakes, Phillips and Hurley all in attendance. Pines went undefeated with a 3-0 record. The Eagles beat out Hurley in two sets to open the night. At one point, Pines trailed 24-21 and rattled off three straight points to tie things at 24 and eventually win the second set 28-26 and sweep the Northstars.

The Eagles moved on to face Phillips in the second match of the night. They finished with a 25-17, 25-15 sweep.

Pines finished the night by beating Three Lakes with a 2-0 sweep.

“Pines started each set slowly, but their ability to rally and battle through adversity helped them come out on top,” noted Smith.

Neff finished the night with 25 kills over the six sets, and freshman Ava Kube followed with 15 of her own. Sullivan finished with 32 assists, while Smith and Lexi Maillete had 15 and 17 digs, respectively.

Northland Pines continued GNC play this past Tuesday with a home game against Lakeland and then traveled to Ripon High School to play in an invitational this Saturday, Sept. 12, at 9 a.m. The Eagles came away as champions of that invitational last year.