DARLINGTON - The Darlington volleyball team ran into one of the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League's top teams in Fennimore Tuesday night.
The Golden Eagles swept the Redbirds, 25-7, 25-21, 25-14, for a conference win.
Fennimore sophomore Allison Klug reeled off 10 straight service points in the first game to help the Golden Eagles jump out to a 16-3 lead that was never in jeopardy.
"Confidence has kind of been a problem for us this year," Darlington coach Jennifer Schwartz said. "We get caught kind of standing a little. When we come out and move our feet and play aggressive, good things happen. I have to make them believe that also."
The second game was a complete turnaround for the Redbirds (2-14-2, 0-9 SWAL). Darlington junior Elizabeth Mathias, who had a team-high five blocks, started the second game with a block for a sideout and Carley McDonald had a kill to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead. McDonald led the Redbirds with seven kills.
The Golden Eagles (7-2 SWAL) came back and took an 11-5 lead, but the Redbirds were resilient and wouldn't go away.
McDonald had a couple of service points and the Golden Eagles had a service error to cut the Redbirds' deficit to 12-6. The Redbirds also dug back from a 21-15 deficit with a block by junior Miranda Wiegel and a kill by McDonald that sliced the Eagles' lead to 22-19. That was as close as the Redbirds misfired on a bump, which went out of bounds.
"I just told them not to be scared to hit the ball," Schwartz said. "I just told them they have nothing to lose. Just hit the ball and play. We hustled. We kind of stuck with it."
The final game was a mirror image of the first game as the Eagles surged to a 15-3 lead behind some pinpoint serving from Breland Prochaska who scored four service points and had an ace and Jerica Nelson who scored four consecutive points to spark the Eagles.
The Redbirds battled back and won seven of the last 12 points, but couldn't overcome the early hole.
Darlington junior Kelsey Fink added three digs for the Redbirds.
"I thought we played very well," Schwartz said. "We moved our feet and got our blocking up where it needed to be."
The Golden Eagles swept the Redbirds, 25-7, 25-21, 25-14, for a conference win.
Fennimore sophomore Allison Klug reeled off 10 straight service points in the first game to help the Golden Eagles jump out to a 16-3 lead that was never in jeopardy.
"Confidence has kind of been a problem for us this year," Darlington coach Jennifer Schwartz said. "We get caught kind of standing a little. When we come out and move our feet and play aggressive, good things happen. I have to make them believe that also."
The second game was a complete turnaround for the Redbirds (2-14-2, 0-9 SWAL). Darlington junior Elizabeth Mathias, who had a team-high five blocks, started the second game with a block for a sideout and Carley McDonald had a kill to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead. McDonald led the Redbirds with seven kills.
The Golden Eagles (7-2 SWAL) came back and took an 11-5 lead, but the Redbirds were resilient and wouldn't go away.
McDonald had a couple of service points and the Golden Eagles had a service error to cut the Redbirds' deficit to 12-6. The Redbirds also dug back from a 21-15 deficit with a block by junior Miranda Wiegel and a kill by McDonald that sliced the Eagles' lead to 22-19. That was as close as the Redbirds misfired on a bump, which went out of bounds.
"I just told them not to be scared to hit the ball," Schwartz said. "I just told them they have nothing to lose. Just hit the ball and play. We hustled. We kind of stuck with it."
The final game was a mirror image of the first game as the Eagles surged to a 15-3 lead behind some pinpoint serving from Breland Prochaska who scored four service points and had an ace and Jerica Nelson who scored four consecutive points to spark the Eagles.
The Redbirds battled back and won seven of the last 12 points, but couldn't overcome the early hole.
Darlington junior Kelsey Fink added three digs for the Redbirds.
"I thought we played very well," Schwartz said. "We moved our feet and got our blocking up where it needed to be."
