DARLINGTON - The three local squads participating in Saturday's eight-team Darlington Volleyball Invitational had differing agendas.
Pecatonica, after nearly upsetting Black Hawk last Thursday, was trying to carry momentum through the rest of the season.
New Glarus was looking for some way to spark its team and play well consistently for the first time all year.
Darlington wanted to go out and win its own tournament.
Instead, Shullsburg beat a surprising New Glarus team in the finals, with Darlington falling in the semifinal round and Pec watching from the stands.
The Vikings came out flat to start the day.
"We started off slow. I don't think we were quite ready to play," coach Cher Schliem said. "These girls are not morning people. They don't do well when they need to get up and go right away. But that's no excuse."
Pec started out the day losing to Shullsburg, 25-20 and 25-23, then swept Darlington's B squad of sophomores, 25-23, 25-10. In a final match against Scales Mound (Ill.), the Vikings could only muster up a split. Scales Mound had already beaten Darlington B and split with Shullsburg, giving them a 4-2 record in Pool B. Shullsburg went 5-1 and Pec's day was done just after lunch.
"We were consistently inconsistent. We had spurts where we'd do well, and then we'd have lapses and dig a hole that we had a hard time getting back out of," Schliem said.
In Pool A play, Darlington dominated Benton (25-20, 25-14) and Boscobel (25-21, 25-15) in the first two rounds. Boscobel and Benton split their matchup, and New Glarus split with both teams as well - losing in the first game before winning the second.
Sitting at 2-2 headed into Pool A's final matchup, the Glarner Knights needed to win just one match against Darlington to advance to the four-team semifinal. The Redbirds, looking surprised, dropped both games to New Glarus.
Glarner Knights head coach Elizabeth Rasmussen and her team were ecstatic at the progress their club has made over the course of the season.
"It was a great day for us," Rasmussen said. "We've picked it up. We've figured it out. Our entire season and we now have found a team that can work together."
Headed into the semifinals, Darlington took on Shullsburg, while New Glarus met up against Scales Mound. In the semifinal round, each match is played until one team wins two games.
Darlington built an early lead and tripped up Shullsburg in the first game of their bout, 28-26. In the second game, Darlington again led early, but Shullsburg again inched closer and eventually won, 25-23. In the third game, the first to 15, Shullsburg stayed on its late roll and jumped to a 7-1 lead. The Redbirds couldn't muster a comeback, and fell 15-5.
"We played well early on in the day, which I didn't expect. I expected it to go the other way," Darlington head coach Jen Schwartz said. "I don't think we really got tired at the end, I think the two games we had to sit for earlier kind of gave us problems and we had trouble getting going again after that."
New Glarus played the opposite role. Scales Mound won the first game 25-21. In the second game, trailing 7-6, the Glarner Knights rallied for 12 straight points before Scales Mound got a side out. Kalie French served New Glarus through the points, pounding out several aces. After the sideout and an 18-8 lead, the Glarner Knights got the ball back and finished the match with the last seven points.
"It was insane," Rasmussen said of the run. "We haven't had that many wins overall on the season, and the girls just really needed this. The girls were going all out out there. They were going for every ball, every set, every tip - everything. That's all a coach can really ask for."
New Glarus jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third game, capping a 24-2 streak between the two games. Scales Mound couldn't bounce back, and Rasmussen and Co. were headed to the finals after a 15-8 third-game win.
In the finals, New Glarus tried to keep up the momentum, leading 8-6 in the first game before falling 25-17.
In the second game, New Glarus went on another run, this one 9-1 to take a 12-5 lead. But Shullsburg rallied for an 11-2 run to take an 18-15 lead. New Glarus answered with its last run of the day, 7-2, to lead 22-20, but Shullsburg finish off the final five points to win 25-22 for the championship.
"I wish we would have pulled it out in the end, but we got what we wanted - a trophy. I didn't expect this. It's something to be proud of," Rasmussen said.
"We've come so far. At the beginning of the year, we didn't know each other well. A lot of the kids had not played together and did not really trust each other. ... As the season has gone on, they've become dependable and have worked with one another. It's just been amazing."
Darlington wishes it could have gone better, but thinks the tournament was a success.
"I thought we played well today. We've had a really rocky season and we had a couple people missing today. We still held together and played pretty well," Schwartz said.
Pecatonica (6-3 Six Rivers East) got 14 assists from Ellie Gifford in the tournament. Fellow Viking Morgan Pien had 10 assists, Kimee Chandler had a bunch of digs and six kills, and Brittany Kent had 14 kills and four assists. The Vikings take on Argyle (1-7 Six Rivers East) on Tuesday.
French led the Glarner Knights with 16 aces and nine blocks. Kelsey Zimmerman added 22 kills and six aces, Kaitlin Schluter had 11 assists and seven aces, Anysia Secard also dumped in seven aces, Lauren Narveson added five aces, and Kelsey Schmidt had 16 digs. In the tournament, the Glarner Knights rattled over 45 aces, a phenomenal mark for 11 games in one day. New Glarus (2-5 Capitol South) will next take it's powerful services to undefeated conference foe, Wisconsin Heights (7-0).
Darlington (1-9 SWAL) will finish off conference play against Mineral Point (7-2) on Tuesday and undefeated Cuba City on Thursday before readying for the postseason.
Pecatonica, after nearly upsetting Black Hawk last Thursday, was trying to carry momentum through the rest of the season.
New Glarus was looking for some way to spark its team and play well consistently for the first time all year.
Darlington wanted to go out and win its own tournament.
Instead, Shullsburg beat a surprising New Glarus team in the finals, with Darlington falling in the semifinal round and Pec watching from the stands.
The Vikings came out flat to start the day.
"We started off slow. I don't think we were quite ready to play," coach Cher Schliem said. "These girls are not morning people. They don't do well when they need to get up and go right away. But that's no excuse."
Pec started out the day losing to Shullsburg, 25-20 and 25-23, then swept Darlington's B squad of sophomores, 25-23, 25-10. In a final match against Scales Mound (Ill.), the Vikings could only muster up a split. Scales Mound had already beaten Darlington B and split with Shullsburg, giving them a 4-2 record in Pool B. Shullsburg went 5-1 and Pec's day was done just after lunch.
"We were consistently inconsistent. We had spurts where we'd do well, and then we'd have lapses and dig a hole that we had a hard time getting back out of," Schliem said.
In Pool A play, Darlington dominated Benton (25-20, 25-14) and Boscobel (25-21, 25-15) in the first two rounds. Boscobel and Benton split their matchup, and New Glarus split with both teams as well - losing in the first game before winning the second.
Sitting at 2-2 headed into Pool A's final matchup, the Glarner Knights needed to win just one match against Darlington to advance to the four-team semifinal. The Redbirds, looking surprised, dropped both games to New Glarus.
Glarner Knights head coach Elizabeth Rasmussen and her team were ecstatic at the progress their club has made over the course of the season.
"It was a great day for us," Rasmussen said. "We've picked it up. We've figured it out. Our entire season and we now have found a team that can work together."
Headed into the semifinals, Darlington took on Shullsburg, while New Glarus met up against Scales Mound. In the semifinal round, each match is played until one team wins two games.
Darlington built an early lead and tripped up Shullsburg in the first game of their bout, 28-26. In the second game, Darlington again led early, but Shullsburg again inched closer and eventually won, 25-23. In the third game, the first to 15, Shullsburg stayed on its late roll and jumped to a 7-1 lead. The Redbirds couldn't muster a comeback, and fell 15-5.
"We played well early on in the day, which I didn't expect. I expected it to go the other way," Darlington head coach Jen Schwartz said. "I don't think we really got tired at the end, I think the two games we had to sit for earlier kind of gave us problems and we had trouble getting going again after that."
New Glarus played the opposite role. Scales Mound won the first game 25-21. In the second game, trailing 7-6, the Glarner Knights rallied for 12 straight points before Scales Mound got a side out. Kalie French served New Glarus through the points, pounding out several aces. After the sideout and an 18-8 lead, the Glarner Knights got the ball back and finished the match with the last seven points.
"It was insane," Rasmussen said of the run. "We haven't had that many wins overall on the season, and the girls just really needed this. The girls were going all out out there. They were going for every ball, every set, every tip - everything. That's all a coach can really ask for."
New Glarus jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third game, capping a 24-2 streak between the two games. Scales Mound couldn't bounce back, and Rasmussen and Co. were headed to the finals after a 15-8 third-game win.
In the finals, New Glarus tried to keep up the momentum, leading 8-6 in the first game before falling 25-17.
In the second game, New Glarus went on another run, this one 9-1 to take a 12-5 lead. But Shullsburg rallied for an 11-2 run to take an 18-15 lead. New Glarus answered with its last run of the day, 7-2, to lead 22-20, but Shullsburg finish off the final five points to win 25-22 for the championship.
"I wish we would have pulled it out in the end, but we got what we wanted - a trophy. I didn't expect this. It's something to be proud of," Rasmussen said.
"We've come so far. At the beginning of the year, we didn't know each other well. A lot of the kids had not played together and did not really trust each other. ... As the season has gone on, they've become dependable and have worked with one another. It's just been amazing."
Darlington wishes it could have gone better, but thinks the tournament was a success.
"I thought we played well today. We've had a really rocky season and we had a couple people missing today. We still held together and played pretty well," Schwartz said.
Pecatonica (6-3 Six Rivers East) got 14 assists from Ellie Gifford in the tournament. Fellow Viking Morgan Pien had 10 assists, Kimee Chandler had a bunch of digs and six kills, and Brittany Kent had 14 kills and four assists. The Vikings take on Argyle (1-7 Six Rivers East) on Tuesday.
French led the Glarner Knights with 16 aces and nine blocks. Kelsey Zimmerman added 22 kills and six aces, Kaitlin Schluter had 11 assists and seven aces, Anysia Secard also dumped in seven aces, Lauren Narveson added five aces, and Kelsey Schmidt had 16 digs. In the tournament, the Glarner Knights rattled over 45 aces, a phenomenal mark for 11 games in one day. New Glarus (2-5 Capitol South) will next take it's powerful services to undefeated conference foe, Wisconsin Heights (7-0).
Darlington (1-9 SWAL) will finish off conference play against Mineral Point (7-2) on Tuesday and undefeated Cuba City on Thursday before readying for the postseason.
