Sonsalla records 1,000th dig in Raiders’ win over rival Red Hawks

Throughout her high school volleyball career, Arcadia senior Justine Sonsalla has shown a willingness to take on whatever role asked of her to benefit the team. In the Raiders’ recent home win over rival Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, Sonsalla hit a career milestone that allowed her to step into the spotlight for an individual moment of celebration.

Sonsalla recorded her 1,000th career dig in the final set of Arcadia’s four-set victory over the Red Hawks last Tuesday, resulting in a brief stoppage in play for her to be honored with a recognition from the public address announcer, along with a flower bouquet and balloons.

“When I was a little girl in sixth grade, I always wanted to be one of those varsity girls that hits a thousand of whatever — assists, digs, hits,” Sonsalla said. “As I grew up, I’m just like ‘I can do this. I have to put in the work, and I can make it happen.’”

After hosting a Coulee double dual early in the week, Arcadia (13-7, 2-3 Coulee) is set to take part in a Saturday tournament hosted by Edgewood High School in Madison and then welcomes in West Salem for a conference match Tuesday at 7 p.m.

G-E-T (6-9, 0-4) closes out the month by hosting Black River Falls in conference play on Tuesday.

Arcadia 3 G-E-T 1

After trading the first two sets with their rivals, the Raiders wrapped things up in four by winning the final two sets last Tuesday in Arcadia.

The Raiders nabbed the first set 25-19 before the Red Hawks responded by never trailing in the second and winning 25-18. Arcadia came out of the gates strong in the third by winning the first several points and eventually took that set 25-18 for a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set saw the Raiders get off to a similarly hot start and included Sonsalla notching her 1,000th dig, resulting in a brief stoppage in the match to honor her. Though Arcadia led 11-2 in the set at that point, G-E-T managed to chip away at the deficit to get within striking distance but could never quite get over the hump as the Raiders closed things out 25-19.

“I felt like we managed the ball well overall, besides some servicing runs. To their credit, they served the ball well,” said Arcadia head coach Natalie Anderson. “We’re finding ways to finish, which is what we’ve been looking to do. We’ve been moving the ball to find an attacker and finding our way around blockers and changing things to make sure that we can get the job done.”

Leading the way for Arcadia were Joselyn Lockington with 12 kills, Tatum Drazkowski with nine kills and 12 digs, Sonsalla with 17 digs, Jaylie Dahl with six kills and two blocks, Adella Anderson with 26 assists and Layna Wozney with four aces and two blocks.

G-E-T stat leaders included Ally Burns with seven kills and five blocks, Sydney Nelson with seven kills, Clara Schulze with seven digs, Amelia Walz and Taryn Leighty with 25 combined assists and Walz with six aces.

For the Red Hawks, it was another chance to end their lengthy losing streak in Coulee play that slipped through their fingers.

“I’m still super proud. I look at the progress that we made from last year and what we’re trying to do to move forward,” said G-E-T head coach Marc Baures. “Maybe I’m getting impatient, but I want to see those results. I’m patient with them and the process, but I wouldn’t mind getting that (conference) win.”

Viroqua 3 Arcadia 2

A flying start had Arcadia thinking they were on their way to a road win that would move their conference record above .500. Instead, the result was a heartbreaking five-set defeat.

The Raiders battled the Blackhawks in Viroqua last Thursday, winning the first two sets 26-24 and 25-18. But Viroqua took care of business the rest of the way, winning the final three sets 25-20, 25-22 and 15-10.

Stats leaders for Arcadia in the loss were Drazkowski with 25 kills and 15 digs, Lockington with 15 kills and 12 digs, Sonsalla with 47 digs, Anderson with 48 assists and five aces and Dahl with nine blocks.