Eagles' week includes TRC match, tourney

Volleyball

     Midland opened conference play and also played in a tournament in last week’s volleyball action.

     Midland (0-1, 2-11) played at Edgewood-Colesburg Sept. 12 in the Tri-Rivers Conference opener, and took the Vikings to a fourth set before losing 12-25, 13-25, 25-14, 20-25. Arianna Hacke and Ella Rupp had three kills apiece, while Allison Paulsen and Brennah Ricketts had two each. Hope Soroka made five assists, and Tatem Galloway had four. The team had 23 digs, led by Taylor Bahnsen and Rupp with six apiece. Rupp also served 16-for-16 with four aces. Ricketts had two blocks.

     On Sept. 14, the Eagles played in the Wilton tournament, and won one out of four matches. They opened with an 8-25, 11-25 loss to Wilton, in which Hacke had three kills, while Soroka and Galloway had three assists each. Bahnsen had five digs.

     Midland then faced Mount Pleasant, and lost in three sets, 16-25, 25-21, 12-25. Hacke had 11 kills, Soroka had 19 assists and 12 digs, and Bahnsen had 20 digs, and served 16-for-16 with five aces.

     The Eagles scored a three-set victory against Hillcrest Academy, losing 20-15 before winning 25-11 and 15-8. Soroka had 17 assists, and Hacke had eight kills. Rupp made 11 digs and served six aces, and Maisie Paulsen served 16-for-16.

     Against Winfield-Mount Union, Midland lost 9-25, 23-25. Soroka had nine assists, 10 digs, and served 8-for-8. Paulsen served 7-for-7. Ricketts had five digs.

Football

     Midland ran up against a tough Turkey Valley team in eight-player football action Sept. 13, and lost by a score of 52-6. The Eagles trailed 26-6 at halftime, and were outscored 26-0 in the second half.

     Britan Martens completed 10 of 27 passes for 106 yards, and ran for the only Midland touchdown.

     Defensively, Sawyer Hansen made nine tackles, Hunter Shoaff had 7.5, and Isiek Soper had 6.5 for the Eagles (2-1).

Cross country

     Midland opened its cross country season Sept. 10 at Tipton on a hot, humid day.

     The boys finished 13^th in a field of 15 teams.

     “That does not sound impressive, but it has been quite a while since we fielded a (complete) team, let alone being able to outscore another team,” Midland coach Jon Eganhouse said.

     Trenton Rickels led the Eagles, finishing 43^rd overall in 20 minutes, 28 seconds. Tanner Stoll posted a time of 21:35, Jon Thomsen finished in 23:20, Bryce Rushford had a time of 23:38, Milo Smith finished in 25:46, and Ethan Milder had a time of 30:22.

     The lone Midland girl was Alyssa Brown, finishing in 34:47 in her first five-kilometer race.

     “Now that we have a baseline on their times, we should only see their times drop and the boys’ team move up in the placings,” Eganhouse said.