The River Falls High School Wildcats volleyball team improved its record to 14-0 for the season after a 3-0 sweep on the road against Big Rivers Conference opponent New Richmond on Thursday, Sept. 9.

The RFHS Wildcats were in complete control throughout the first set against the Tigers. After getting out to an early 10-point lead against New Richmond, River Falls closed out the match decisively, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the series.

The second set appeared to be much more competitive. New Richmond and RFHS traded points throughout the first several minutes of the match. Neither team could pull away in the race to 25. When the score was 17-16 in favor of the Wildcats, RFHS went on a 6-0 scoring run, giving them a 23-16 advantage and the match began to feel out of reach for New Richmond.

Suddenly the Tigers responded with a scoring barrage of their own, going on a 4-0 streak to cut the RFHS lead to three points, leading to a timeout by RFHS head coach Sara Kealy. The timeout did little to slow the Tigers’ momentum, as New Richmond rattled off another three points to tie the game at 23.

A few minutes later the match was tied at 24 all with New Richmond ready to serve. The player put too much on the serve and sent it over the boundary, giving River Falls a 25-24 advantage. The next point was also scored by RFHS, giving the Wildcats a 26-24 victory to improve to 2-0 in the series. Head coach Kealy described the second set and why it became much closer than the first set.

“I had subs in,” Kealy said of the second set. “When the other team starts getting momentum, I try not to sub back out because I don’t want those kids to think ‘I can’t finish.’ I like to let the kids grind it out. It’s happened a couple of times this year, but I really try not to go back to my starters.”

The start of the third and final set resembled the first set more than the aforementioned highly contested second set. When the third set began, the starters were back on the floor and the Wildcats wasted no time jumping out to a quick 9-1 lead. Throughout the third set, New Richmond made a few small runs, but the eight-point advantage early in the match proved to be too much to overcome for the Tigers.

The victory in the third set meant that RFHS had swept a conference opponent on the road. The win also improved the Wildcats’ conference record to 2-0, putting them in first place in the Big Rivers Conference standings. After the match, Kealy reflected on winning a conference game against a new in-conference opponent.

“It’s new to have New Richmond in our conference; I know their team really well,” Kealy said. “It feels very familiar to play against them and that’s motivating in a lot of ways. I thought our energy stayed consistent. I’m proud of my kids.”

Kealy also stated that in a situation where RFHS has a significant lead, it’s good to get younger players into the game to get some varsity experience.

“I got everybody on my bench in which is always my goal when matches are a little lopsided,” Kealy said of the 3-0 sweep. “The first set was my starters and my goal in that situation is to get everybody in to get game speed experience so that next year when I graduate a couple of kids, then I’ve still got kids that have played (varsity).”

Coach Kealy said that there were a couple of players that had impressive performances in the conference victory against the Tigers. According to Kealy, both middles, senior Haley Graetz and junior Taylor Peterson played well and made significant contributions to the win.

The next match for the RFHS volleyball team is at home against Hudson on Thursday, Sept. 16. That match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Olivia Redmond (#8) setting the ball for senior Haley Graetz (#4) during the game against the Tigers. RFHS defeated New Richmond in three consecutive sets.