Peshtigo Goes Perfect In Tri With Menominee/Marinette

Peshtigo made it through Tuesday’s volleyball triangular against Menominee and Marinette without ever losing a set.
The Bulldogs beat Menominee 25-20, 25-19, and 25-18 and finished off Marinette in three as well, including a close 25-23 win in the third set.
Peshtigo coach Jenny Martin said her team was working in new positions, and despite some deficits throughout the matches, they got the job done in every set.
“We could have played stronger all around. Slow starts, but we tried some new lineups, so I’m OK with how we did,” Martin said. “New positions and stuff for some of the kids, so they had to work through it. They did pretty decent.”
Sophomore Taylor Wortner had a strong night at the service line.
“She’s been working super, super hard. She struggled in that first match, talked about what she wanted to do differently, and she definitely accomplished that in the second one,” Martin said. “That’s just part of growing as a player is knowing she can work through those things and it’s still going to be OK.”
Marinette took the first set from Menominee 25-15 then lost 25-18, but rebounded to win 25-17 in set three.
“I think the sets against Peshtigo went pretty well,” Marinette coach Jenna Miller said. “We played well as a team against Menominee. Not thrilled to have dropped that one, but the fight we showed coming back was really great to see too.”
Miller said she was happy with her team’s efforts bringing balls back into play and coming back to win in the final set.
“Being able to come back on a last set has been something that we’ve struggled with before, so that’s a pretty big victory for us just personally,” she said.
Meanwhile Menominee coach Sara Betzinger is still looking for that perfect combination to unlock what she saw from her team in set two against Marinette.
“There’s always bright spots and there’s always not-so-great spots. I’m still looking for that magic combination,” she said. “I’m looking for that secret ingredient that’s going to just bring it all together. I think I have a really talented team.”
Menominee also played Escanaba last week, falling in four sets. After losses of 25-20 and 25-18, the Maroons won 25-21 in the third set before a 25-21 loss in the fourth.
“There’s a lot of effort, a lot of hustle. Communication is one thing that we were really lacking tonight,” Betzinger said. “They played amazing Thursday night where they had amped that up to that point, they came together, and we had Escanaba rocked back on their heels. It was a great night Thursday night, but we were lacking that communication tonight.”

Lena Takes Win Over
STAA in Three Sets
In some sports they would be teammates, but Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy and Lena were on opposite ends of the net in volleyball action Thursday, with the Wildcats winning in straight sets.
Lena won 25-17, 25-16, and 25-8 to pick up their third straight win over an M&O Conference opponent to begin the 2023 season.
The Wildcats have a roster with a lot of turnover from last year’s team that went 7-9, with over 50 percent new players, but if the first couple matches are any indication, it’s a roster with a lot of promise.
“Last year, a lot of them played together already, so this year it was trying to blend in those younger players and the older players, but we seem to be doing really, really well,” Lena coach Heidi Place said.
One area where the Wildcats have improved is in the passing department.
“A lot of them have improved a lot from last year, their passing is stellar,” Place said. “Last year we struggled with passing a little bit, and this year we seem to be getting it. It’s still not going exactly where we need it, but it’s closer to where our setter’s not running around.”
Kayla Steeber’s Cavaliers have lots of work still to do to compete at the upper levels of the M&O Conference, but with eight freshmen on the team after a couple of years of just seven players total, there’s some optimism in the STAA camp.
“We’re a very young team, but a lot of talent and they’ve been working very hard to get to be competitive,” Steeber said.
The Cavaliers were without three players against Lena, including one starter. Senior Jenna Maxwell will be the team’s leader and sophomore Kate Peters will play a large role as well.
“We have great leadership with Jenna our one senior. She’s doing a great job leading the team,” Steeber said. “We also have a sophomore, Kate, who stepped up a lot to also help lead. We’ve been changing positions to find our groove and I think we found it.”

Marinette Drops
Conference Opener
to Wrightstown
Marinette was beaten in three sets by Wrightstown on Thursday to begin the conference season.
Playing at home, the Tigers took the three sets 25-16, 25-14, and 25-11.
“Despite losing in three sets, they played well together,” Marinette coach Jenna Miller said.
Olivia Hanson led the team with four kills and Wynn Erdman had six assists. Abby Snowtala and Bry Torkko each recorded 12 digs.
Next up for the Marines is a very tough matchup at home against Luxemburg-Casco on Thursday. The Spartans already have double-digit wins this season including a 3-0 win against Little Chute in conference play Thursday.

Niagara and Crivitz Go
the  Distance in Tight
Win for Badgers
Niagara and Crivitz battled for five sets on Thursday that came down to two points in a tight fifth set.
The teams alternated set victories. Crivitz won 25-18 in the first set, followed by a big 25-15 victory from Niagara in the second.
The Wolverines got within a set of victory with a 25-23 third set before Niagara got a 25-20 win in the fourth. The Badgers narrowly clipped Crivitz 15-13 in the fifth to walk away with the overall win.
“Crivitz is a very scrappy team that never gave up on a ball,” Niagara coach Maryellen Allred said. “Our team leaders showed their mental toughness and continued to be adaptable to the game in their defense.”
Raegan Frappier had a team-best 18 assists and 16 digs as well as eight kills and three aces. Mallory Sanicki’s 12 kills were a team best, with 12 digs, three aces, and three assists.
Emma Broullire recorded a team-high five aces with eight kills, 10 digs, and a block.
Elesia Sweig had 12 assists and nine digs and Grace Payette had four aces and eight digs.
“There were times when we certainly had our inconsistencies, and that is something that we will continue to work through,” Allred said. The Badgers are off for the next week with the holiday weekend.
“We have had a long two weeks with a lot of volleyball,” Allred said. “It will be nice to have a chance to recharge before we go to Gillett for a triangular match next Thursday.”
Crivitz got 20 assists and two aces from Hattie Frievalt and Lilli Watson led with 13 digs.
Five Wolverines had between six kills and nine. Kiya Brand had six, Megan Pusick had seven, Taryn Tracy had eight, and both Maddy Welty and Tayah Werner recorded nine kills apiece.

O. Falls Drops
Conference
Opener to Waupaca
Oconto Falls was beaten in the North Eastern Conference opener against Waupaca on Thursday night after a back-and-forth fifth set that ended 18-16.
The Panthers took a 5-1 lead in the final set before a 10-point run from Waupaca to take an 11-5 advantage. The Panthers didn’t give up and took the next six points to tie it at 11, but Waupaca finished things off in the end, 18-16, with the help of Peyton Carlson, who had a whopping 41 of her team’s 57 kills on the night.
For Oconto Falls, Amber Otto had 18 kills, 12 digs, and three aces and Lucy Ripley had 13 kills and five blocks.
Morgan Moynihan had 24 assists, 12 digs, and three aces, Kyndra Staidl had 35 digs and three aces, and Izzy Otto had 12 assists with 10 digs.
Bailey Gorman finished with eight kills. Aly Yuma had 10 digs and four aces.
“I was really proud of how the girls battled all night,” Falls coach Rochell Otto said. “I will tip my hat off to Waupaca on their scrapiness.”