“This season went extraordinarily well, and this team overachieved. They were on fire in October and worked together to become regional champions, and one of the top teams in the state.”

Such was the description given by varsity volleyball coach Rainy Antolak, with experience dating back to the late 80s, of the current volleyball squad after a hard fought set of four matches Saturday at Amherst, in which Stanley-Boyd battled for the Sectional championship, before ultimately losing to Oconto. A prior set of matches Thursday at Marathon saw Stanley-Boyd beat the Red Raiders on their own turf.

“Once we got into playoffs, we spent some time watching game film of our opponents so we understood their strengths and weaknesses,” Antolak said. “We watched where their hitters hit the ball so we could be in the right spot to dig their hits. Similarly, we knew where our hitters needed to hit the ball to take advantage of their open spots. This team did a great job of understanding what they saw on film and then executing our game plan,” she said. Among things of note in the match play against Oconto are the following: Emily Brenner: 23 kills, 11 serve attempts and three service aces. Nine digs.

Kayte Licht: 25 attack attempts. 10 serve attempts, two service aces, and one assist. 30 digs.

Lily Hoel: 34 attack attempts and 11 kills. 20 serve attempts and four service aces, with 22 digs. Also two blocks.

Sophia Anderson, 10 kills and five blocks, with two digs.

Leslie Derks: seven attack attempts and one kill.

Avery Vait: one attack attempt and one kill. 11 Serve attempts and one service ace. Three digs.

Kaden Drehmel: 14 serve attempts and one dig.

Tina Benson: 11 serve attempts and 18 digs.

“Before our playoff matches, we asked the players to make the commitment to play like champions when they stepped on the court and they did play like champions right to the end,” Antolak shared.