Pulaski volleyball team goes winless at Spartan Invitational

Entering the weekend with a 7-18 overall record, the Pulaski volleyball team would love to string some wins together as the regular season is coming to an end and postseason play is on the horizon. What better way to string some wins together than by participating in the Spartan Invitational at Oshkosh North as this was a golden opportunity for Pulaski to gain some confidence these final few weeks.

Despite some strong efforts on the court throughout the day, the results were not what the Red Raiders were hoping for as they finished the day 0-3 and will now gear up for the stretch run of their season.

In their first match of the day, the Red Raiders were matched up with Green Bay NEW Lutheran as both teams took part in pool C play.

This was one of those situations where the size of the school doesn’t matter as the Blazers took care of business against Pulaski 2-0, winning set one 25-16 and taking set two 25-11. Emma Laatsch was a problem all match long for the Red Raiders and their front line as she set the tone for NEW Lutheran with 12 kills. She also added a team high 18 assists as she played as big of a role as anyone.

When it came to the Red Raiders, they were led by Alexia Thibodeau and Emma Quinnell as Thibodeau did her best to get things started for the offense while Quinnell made the kills she needed to make at the front line. Reese Lardinois also had a great first match of the day as her six assists helped make things happen for the Red Raiders on offense.

Looking to bounce back after a rough first match, Pulaski took their chances against Reedsville as they were hoping to move up in pool play. Pulaski couldn’t have asked for a better start in this one as they opened the match with a 25-16 set one win to grab their first win of the day. Unfortunately for them, it would be the only win of the match and only win of the day as the Panthers responded with a 25-23 set two victory before closing things out 15-8 to take the match 2-1.

Once again, Quinnell played a huge role of setting things up for her team, but this one was all about Thibodeau and her all-around game. Not only did she do a phenomenal job setting things up offensively with a team high 22 assists, but she also added nine kills to lead the Red Raiders as the Panthers had no answers for her. She was joined by Quinnell and her 10 assists and four kills as the Red Raiders continued to battle only to come up short in the end.

With a chance to end their day on a positive note, the Red Raiders closed out pool play against the 22-6 Waupaca Comets as this would be by far their toughest task of the day. Once again it was another straight set loss for Pulaski, but after dropping the first set 25-12, Pulaski at least showed a little bit of fight in the second set before falling 25-19.

Lia Richgels made her presence felt throughout the final match as she tallied three kills and six assists for her team. Thibodeau had another big game with seven kills and nine assists, but it was the freshman Jazlyn Kozlowski who played a huge role in the Red Raiders resurgence during that final set as she continues to make her presence felt this season.