Rapid River junior Saylor Carlson attempts to make a play at the net against Mid Peninsula on Nov. 3, 2025 at Rapid River School. (Victoria Coppock/Daily Press)

RAPID RIVER — The Rapid River Rockets won the first round of this year’s district bracket against the Mid Peninsula Wolverines in 4 sets. (20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19) here Monday

SET ONE: Rapid won the coin toss but lost the opening serve to Mid Peninsula. Senior Hope Brunngraeber quickly put the Wolverines ahead with a six-point run, including two aces, bringing the score to 1-7. Rapid River responded with a kill from junior Kellyn Gustafson, their first point of the set. Shortly after, junior Madelyn Limbert delivered a three-point serving streak for Rapid, two of which were aces, narrowing the gap to 5-9. Freshman Nevaeh Hernandez then sparked further momentum for Rapid with two points, one an ace, followed by junior Donna McDonald, who contributed five more points on serve, including a single ace. The set grew increasingly competitive, with both teams trading points and the score remaining close until Rapid hit a slump after reaching 20 points, leading the Wolverines to victory for the first set.

SET TWO: For the beginning of set two, senior Hope Brunngraeber started off behind the line to serve with four points, three of which were aces. This streak was ended by a kill from junior Saylor Carlson. Right after, sophomore Emma Hardy had a serve streak of four, putting Rapid in the lead with a 5-4 score. From here on out, the game was a continuous back and forth battle for who wanted it more, up until junior Madelyn Limbert goes back to serve to secure two points, creating a lead for Rapid, and the score is 20-17. Rapid maintained control to the end, allowing them to secure the win for this set.

SET THREE: Both sides had a rough time starting out this set, as the ball went from Rapid to Mid Pen , where junior Kellyn Gustafson got a kill. Now that the ball is back in Rapids’ possession, junior Saylor Carlson started to get things warmed up with a serve streak of 3, one of which was an ace. Senior Tessa Lofquist then got an ace before the ball was returned to Madelyn Limbert for two points. Senior Gallie Haring from Mid Pen got a kill, giving them the ball back into possession with junior Payton Latvala up to serve, completing one point. On Payton’s second serve, the ball came back to their side, resulting in a free ball from junior Abbigale Klee given to Rapids’ libero, junior Madelyn Limbert, to setter sophomore Emma Hardy, and a kill placed perfectly by senior Aubrey Olson, making the score 8-5. Then, for a while, the score is point for point until sophomore Emma Hardy is up to serve and collects two points for Rapid, making the score 14-10. Now for Mid Pen senior Hope Brunngraeber had a serve streak of 4, closing in the gap of the score to 15-14. To end Hopes’ serve streak, Saylor Carlson had a kill to then push her back into serve, where she had four consistent serves that achieved points, leading the score to 21-15. Once sophomore Madelyne Lofquist is back to serve, it gives the advantage to junior Alivia Frappier to tip the ball, making the score 24-18. Now that Donna McDonald had served, she got the point, leaving the third set to end 25-18.

SET FOUR: Mid Pen had the first serve with senior Hope Brunngraeber having seven consecutive serves. Then junior Tessa Lofquist had two points, pushing Mid Pen even further into the lead with the score 2-10. On junior Saylor Carlson’s serve, junior Abbigale Klee got a kill to put junior Payton Latvala behind for serve to quickly return to Rapids Madelyn Limbert for four points by serve due to Donna McDonald’s kill. A little later, senior Aubrey Olson is up for Serve, gaining two points for Rapid River, one being an ace, nearly tying the score that is 15-16. After a service error from Mid Pen, the score is now tied with sophomore Emma Hardy securing two points in serves to push Rapid into the lead. From here on out, Rapid held Mid Pen back, only allowing them to take on two more points while they pushed ahead for the win, leaving the score 25-19.

POST GAME: When Coach Katrina McNamara was asked about the team’s performance, she responded with “Our serving was on point tonight. We only had five service errors in four games, so they focused on that and did a phenomenal job.”

Monday nights MVP’s: “Donna McDonald led in kills with 10. We had to run essentially a 6-2. Emma Hardy had 14 assists and Alivia Frappier nine assists and then on Digs Mady had 41 digs between the games.”

Adjustments during the match: “I mean, they’ve really came together as a team tonight. They brought three girls up from JV and just learning how to play side by side with other people, and people being able to work on the fly and get in when I needed them to get in for substitutions, so they really look like a great well-oiled machine tonight”

Rapid River’s next game is in Munising against Munising November 5th for Semi-Finals of Districts.