Raiders hope to rebound after straight-set losses

With the playoffs nearly upon us, the Arcadia volleyball team is hoping to flush some recent losses out of their memory as they gear up for the do-or-die part of the season.

Playing without top attacker Tatum Drazkowski, the Raiders (16-17, 3-8 Coulee) were swept aside by two of the Coulee Conference’s better teams last week, falling on the road to both Westby and West Salem in straight sets. They’ve now lost five straight in conference play, the last four being via sweeps.

“Our team has struggled with consistency in the physical and mental parts of the game, but they are learning and adjusting,” said Arcadia head coach Natalie Anderson. “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn, so we have been learning a lot lately about how to play as a team when we do not have the luxury of being able to make many changes due to small numbers. They have played a lot of big teams in our tournaments from higher divisions that should pay off once we hit playoffs.”

Arcadia closes out the regular season with a rivalry clash against Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Thursday at 7 p.m. Regional matches get underway next week, with the opening round on Tuesday, regional semifinals on Thursday and regional finals on Saturday.

Westby 3 Arcadia 0

After needing five sets to turn aside the Raiders during their Sept. 23 meeting, the Norsemen made quicker work in the rematch, sweeping Arcadia 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 last Tuesday in Westby.

The Raiders were led in the loss by Justine Sonsalla with eight kills, 11 digs and three aces, Joselyn Lockington with eight kills and Adella Anderson with 25 assists. 

West Salem 3 Arcadia 0

Despite being right in the mix in the final two sets, the Raiders could not get over the hump against the Panthers and lost in straight sets this past Thursday in West Salem.

The hosts stormed out of the gates to a dominant 25-11 win in the opening set before Arcadia settled in to make things significantly more competitive.

The Raiders couldn’t quite capitalize on chances in crunch time to seriously threaten West Salem in the match, as the Panthers eked out the second set 25-23 and the third 26-24 to close out the victory.

In the loss, Arcadia had Sonsalla with nine kills, 11 digs and two aces, Lockington with eight kills and 11 digs and Anderson with 24 assists.

The Panthers previously swept the Raiders during their Sept. 30 matchup at the Wanek Center.