College Volleyball: Raiders win 3 of 4 at Ridgewater Invitational

WILLMAR-Paige Wallevan dominated the stats with 29 kills, 52 set assists, 20 digs, eight ace serves and two blocks for the Central Lakes Raiders who opened their season last weekend by winning three of four matches at the Ridgewater Invitational.

The Raiders defeated Ellsworth Community College and Lake Region State College 3-1 Friday and Saturday beat Riverland 3-0 before losing to Ridgewater 3-0.

"We played some good defensive teams in Ellsworth and Ridgewater which showed us a lot about our defense and that's going to be helpful," said Raiders head coach Jane Peterson. "We also served a lot better than I thought we would."

Kahlen Manthey added 10 of the total 44 CLC ace serves for the weekend.

Cassie Smieja added 28 kills while Kayla Larson contributed 21 kills and 11 blocks. Baylee Grenier and Morgan Melby had 23 and 21 set assists, respectively, and Hannah Peltier turned in 19 digs.

"Everybody contributed and everybody played well," said Peterson. "It's going to take a while to figure out our best starting lineup and that's a good problem to have."

Saturday matches

CLC def. Riverland 25-10, 25-10, 25-16

Ridgewater def. CLC 25-12, 26-24, 25-12

Friday matches

CLC def. Ellsworth 19-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-23

CLC def. Lake Region State 25-16, 22-25, 25-13, 25-16

Raider cumulative statistics (4 matches)

Kahlen Manthey 10 ace serves, 37 digs
Maddy Stall 1 kill, 5 ace serves, 19 digs

Hannah Peltier 4 kills, 6 ace serves, 19 digs, 6 blocks

Baylee Grenier 23 set assists, 1 ace serve, 7 digs

Cassie Smieja 28 kills, 5 ace serves, 7 digs, 9 blocks

Brooke Jerger 6 kills, 2 ace serves, 6 digs, 3 blocks

Morgan Melby 21 set assists, 5 digs

Kaitlyn Luksik 9 kills, 4 digs, 1 block

Kayla Larson 21 kills, 7 ace serves, 11 blocks

Alie Johanneck 10 kills, 4 blocks

Paige Wallevand 29 kills, 52 set assists, 8 ace serves, 20 digs, 2 blocks

Becca Jensen 15 kills, 4 digs, 5 blocks

Carlie Schroeder 6 digs

Overall: CLC 3-1. Next: Fond du Lac at CLC 4:30 p.m. Wednesday; Oak Hills Christian at CLC 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.