Oakland-Craig volleyball defeats LDNE at home
Published 2:38 pm Thursday, October 8, 2026
In the fourth set of Thursday’s home volleyball game, Oakland-Craig junior Hilary Ray jumped at the net with her team leading 24-20, and spiked the ball where Lyons-Decatur Northeast defense was unable to save it, as Oakland-Craig won the set, and won the match.
“Our setter was hurt at the beginning of the season,” Ray said. “She’s now getting back. We’re getting back into the groove of things, and we’re getting back into our positions. Tonight was not great for us, but it was good that we finished.”
In set one, the game opened with Oakland-Craig junior Marysa Moseman serving the ball, deflecting in the backcourt of LDNE’s Karsen Olsen as the ball went out of bounds for an early 1-0 lead.
LDNE got going offensively at one point holding onto a commanding 15-8 lead. Their offense continued to dominate, leading 24-22 when set one came to an end with the ball deflecting off Oakland-Craig’s defense, going out of bounds as LDNE took set one 25-22. Oakland-Craig head coach Becky Rennerfeldt pulled her team aside in the hallway behind the bleachers for a talk before set two began.
“There’s a joke with the other coaches that I used to coach with where I call it the hallway of greatness because I think I’m undefeated going into the hallway,” Rennerfeldt said. “It was kind of a regroup there because we obviously didn’t come out and play Oakland-Craig volleyball that first set, and I was pretty disappointed in the way we came out to play. We looked relaxed on our heels, and not ready to go.”
Set two began with Oakland-Craig jumping out to a 10-0 lead before LDNE scored their first point of the set with a ball that deflected off Oakland-Craig’s Sabrina Rost, and out of bounds. However, that didn’t stop Oakland-Craig’s dominance as they went on a 5-0 run, leading 15-1. The set concluded when sophomore Ella Brands jumped at the net, spiking the ball as it deflected off LDNE’s defense going out of bounds, winning 25-8, and evening up the series at 1-1.
Set three, Oakland-Craig didn’t skip a beat as their offense continued to stay hot starting off the set with a 6-0 run. LDNE got on the board when Olsen tapped the ball barely over the ball as it landed in open territory making it a 6-1 game. Once again, Oakland-Craig continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal winning the set 25-9 when LDNE’s Ryanna Bacon served the ball going out of bounds. Rennerfeldt spoke on behalf of her team’s defense as they held LDNE to under 10 points in back-to-back sets.
“That was kind of what I noticed in the first set,” she said. “We were just playing very relaxed, and not playing the defense I knew we could play. I was glad with the adjustments that we made for the next two sets.”
Set four, LDNE was determined not to go down without a fight. They opened the set on a 5-1 run. However, Oakland-Craig rallied and eventually tied the set at 14 points apiece. Oakland-Craig took their first lead of the set right after when Ray jumped at the net and spiked the ball putting her team in front at 15-14. Oakland-Craig rallied to win set four, and win the overall match for their 13th win of the season, third in a row and fifth win in their last six matches.
“We’ve been working hard in all of our practices,” Rennerfeldt said. “We did have a critical injury at the beginning of the season, which hurt us in those first few matches. Now that we have everybody up and healthy, it does make a huge difference in our defensive play. That’s probably our biggest difference given our setter is now healthy.”
Oakland-Craig’s next match will be back at home Tuesday against the West-Point Beemer Cadets.
“We’ll probably be up in the gym this weekend, and then Monday come to practice, and work really hard,” Ray said. “Tuesday, give it our all and play our game. When we play our game, we’re just fine.”
LDNE returns home Tuesday for their next match against Logan View/Scribner-Snyder.
