BURLINGTON — The Catholic Central volleyball team was up to its old tricks and it turned out to be no treat for Black Hawk on Halloween Night.

The No. 3-ranked Hilltoppers (28-10 overall) rallied from an early 0-1 deficit by taking the next three sets to defeat the eighth-ranked Lady Warriors 25-25, 25-20, 25-12, 25-22, in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal clash held at Catholic Central High School in Burlington on Thursday, Oct. 31.

“I think they played their hearts out tonight. We played hard. That’s a very good Catholic Central team we knew would be tough to beat,” said Black Hawk head coach Rachel Wolff after leading her team to its first sectional appearance since 2007.

The defending D4 state champion Hilltoppers have haunted Coach Wolff and the Warriors in the post-season ever since defeating the Warriors 3-1 in their previous sectional showdown en route to the 2007 state title. The ’Toppers have ended Black Hawk’s season six more times since then, including a 3-1 victory in last season’s regional final match that thrust them to the program’s sixth state title and another 3-1 win on Thursday which snapped a 19-match winning streak for the Warriors. 

Black Hawk (25-5-1) came out ready to fight from the opening serve and gave the ‘Toppers all they could handle. Taking advantage of some early struggles at the service line by Catholic Central, the Warriors built up a 14-11 lead in set one.

The hosts charged back with an 8-1 scoring run to grab a 19-15 advantage thanks in part to a number of double-hits called on the Warrior setters.

“Some of the calls didn’t go our way, which made us have to change our game a little bit with our sets. They were a little picky with how they were calling things. We tried to adjust, but it pulled us out of our game a little bit,” Wolff said.

A kill by senior middle hitter Katie Goethal put the ‘Toppers ahead 23-21, however junior outside hitter Bailey Butler used a series of well-placed tip kills and blistering spikes to tie the score at 23, 24 and 25 all. Junior Makayla Mau broke the last tie with a kill, and then Bailey Butler fired home an ace to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead with a 27-25 win.

The two teams continued to battle it out in the second set, swapping the lead six times until CC junior Sammie Seib started to get warmed up, scoring a pair of kills and two aces during a 6-3 run which put the hosts ahead 22-19.

Back-to-back kills by Goethal closed out a 25-20 win and the ’Toppers climbed back to even at 1-1. It was the first set Black Hawk had dropped in 19 straight matches dating back to the Richland Center Invitational on Sept. 7.

“We had to keep our composure to get set two, but it just didn’t pan out that way. We’d like to have some of those points we gave up back,” Wolff said.

CC got going early in set three with freshman Kelly Pum reeling off five consecutive service points to put her team ahead 9-2. The Warriors closed to within six at 15-9, but the hosts closed on a 10-3 run to garner a 2-1 lead with a 25-12 decision.

“We couldn’t find that rhythm to stay on offense a whole lot. We were playing defense a ton and, with a team like (Catholic Central), you can’t do that. It would have been nice to get more opportunities, but their goal is to keep you out of system and they did that well,” Wolff said.

With momentum swinging in the Hilltoppers’ favor, Seib started swinging from both the front and back row to power her team to victory. Back-to-back kills by Bailey Butler gave Black Hawk its final lead of the match at 5-4, then Seib hammered back with six spike kills and one block kill to put CC on top 13-8.

The Warriors pulled to within three when senior Hannah Butler sandwiched an ace around kills by sister Bailey and freshman Tara Wellnitz to make the score 18-15. However, Seib took over from there, scoring six more kills, including two from the back row, to get the ’Toppers to match-point at 24-19.

Kills by Hannah Butler and Mau gave the Warriors some hope as they closed the gap to 24-22, but Goethal shut down the comeback by flooring the game-winning kill to seal the match.

Seib finished the night with a whopping 35 kills — making just four hitting errors with a hitting percentage nearing .500 — and she also led the team with 27 digs and two aces.

“We really didn’t have an answer for (Seib), but I think we played our game to the best of our ability tonight,” Wolff stated. 

Goethal chipped in with 15 kills and four blocks. Junior setter Ella Shaw distributed 57 assists for the ’Toppers, who swept Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran/Providence Academy (24-21) in Saturday’s sectional final at Central Wisconsin Christian in Waupun to reach their eighth trip to state.

Bailey Butler tallied 19 kills for the Warriors. Hannah Butler registered six blocks and an ace, while junior Macie Stauffacher led the team with six digs and an ace. Senior setter Maddy Huschitt dispersed 18 assists in the match.

Playing in their final match for Black Hawk on Thursday were seniors Kristen Knapp, Amy Heinmann, Huschitt and Hannah Butler.

“They’re a class act. They’re going to be hard to replace. They did everything that I wanted them to do and more,” Wolff said about her seniors. “They made the season fun for me and their teammates largely because of their leadership.”