Raiders get scrappy, fight to win Coulee volleyball opener

Game two provided gut-check time for the Arcadia High School volleyball team last Tuesday, and the Raiders proved they were up for the challenge.

The Raiders were on the road to play Onalaska Luther in its Coulee Conference opener, and the hosts held a 22-20 advantage with the serve. A loss would tie the match at one game apiece, and it would have been either team’s match to win.

The Raiders took a 24-23 lead, but Luther tied the game again. After multiple traded points, Arcadia stole the second game 29-27 by gutting out numerous wins on battles at the net, blocking kill attempts by the Knights and finding holes in Luther’s defense on offense.

Some of that came from senior Casidi Pehler, who led Arcadia with five blocks added eight kills. Sophomore Justine Sonsalla led the Raiders with nine kills, and senior Samantha Berg had six kills of her own.

“That was true grit right there,” Arcadia coach Andrea Izdepski said of her team’s fight in game two. “We dug a hole, but fortunately we allowed ourselves to stay in the game the whole time, and we didn’t let those errors kill us. We just kept bouncing back and bouncing back and working together and pulled off the win.”

That resilience also helped Arcadia win game three, enough for a sweep and a 1-0 start in the conference. The Raiders are 5-3 through two weeks of the 2023 season and now sit one win away from matching its six total wins in 2022.

It’s early, but Izdepski admitted she has high hopes for the Raiders this year, mostly thanks to strong leadership and high team morale.

“The way the girls are working together and how hard they’re pushing each other in practice right now, honestly, the sky’s the limit. I think these girls are a super special group, and I can’t even tell you what that end of the season looks like for us because it could be pretty great.”

Arcadia was slated to visit Viroqua (1-2 overall, 1-0 Coulee) on Tuesday.

Arcadia  25 29 25

Luther   16 27 23

Arcadia scored the first three points to grab control of the opening game last Tuesday, and they kept the hosts at a comfortable distance for the entire opener to take the one-game advantage.

Some Arcadia teams in the past have taken a couple points to find its groove, but this year’s team has showed so far that they are ready to go from the opening serve, their coach said.

“That’s so powerful,” Izdepski said of starting strong. “Volleyball is a game of momentum, and if you can take it right away, especially in someone else’s gym, that is so valuable. I thought the girls did really well with that tonight.”

Game three was another close battle, with Arcadia taking a 21-16 lead late. Luther came storming back to cut Arcadia’s advantage to one point, but the Raiders held on to win the match 25-23.

Adella Anderson led the Raiders with 23 assists on Tuesday and also had six aces. Berg, Kaitlyn Bremer and Tatum Drazkowski each had 10 digs.

In what projects to be another strong year for the conference, being able to stick to a gameplan and finding ways to win will be crucial, Izdepski said. The win over Luther served as a good kick-off, she thinks.

“We knew they’d be a really tough matchup right to start our conference play. ... We know the level of play that we need to be at to beat every single team in our conference,” Izdepski said. 

“And we can’t take a night off (because) every team in our conference we respect. We’re gonna go out there and play hard, and this just revved us up for the whole season.”

W. Salem  25 25 25

Arcadia     18 19 18

The Panthers, one of the top teams in the Coulee from a year ago, showed they plan to be competitive again in 2023 with Thursday’s three-game win over the Raiders.

West Salem (2-2, 1-0 Coulee) restricted Arcadia from getting a win in any of the three games on Thursday, but Arcadia stayed close the entire way.

Kena Ihle scored 14 of West Salem’s points off kills, and teammates Kenzie Murphy and Leah Brigson combined for 30 digs against the Raiders.