BRODHEAD — The Cardinals (32-4, 8-1 Rock Valley) took another big step in their quest for a state title, knocking off Fennimore (13-11, 7-5 SWAL) and New Glarus (18-11, 8-2 Capitol South) to become regional champions.
The road wasn’t easy, though, as New Glarus challenged Brodhead in an extended third set of the Cardinals’ sweep.
“They’re tough,” Brodhead head coach Erin Kammerer said of the Knights. “We knew coming in they have two big outsides, and they have a big middle swinging at us. We tried to keep them out of system as much as we could.”
The Knights proved to be up to the challenge, taking a 7-4 lead in the first set.
“We had nothing to lose,” New Glarus head coach Kayla Zimmerman said. “We tried to do our best on defense, to get hands on their hits, slow it down and let our defense do the work. We needed to trust that we could be competitive.”
New Glarus scored its first seven points with just three offensive points. Amber Horn, much like her game against Boscobel, began with a kill. Grace Nommensen recorded a kill of her own, followed by an ace from Horn.
The Knights’ lead didn’t last long, though. The Cardinals responded with six consecutive points, three of which came on tips from Addison Yates.
“I knew that there were opens spots I needed to hit,” Yates said. “If I couldn’t get the spike kill, I needed to find the open spot for a tip.”
With another five-point run, Brodhead led 18-11. Unwilling to go away, New Glarus charged back. Horn’s tip found the floor, and Lindsey Schadewalt knocked down two more.
After two attack errors that let the Knights back into the set at 18-16, Brodhead ended the first set on a seven-point run to win 25-16. In that stretch, Abbie Dix served up one ace with a kill, and Kirsten Fish had back-to-back kills.
The Cardinals took that momentum into the second set, jumping to a 6-2 lead. Once again, Dix contributed with an ace and pair of kills.
“Obviously, they are going to get their own kills,” junior outside hitter Schadewalt said. “They’re going to be good, but we had to limit them.”
For the next 15 points, New Glarus did, in fact, limit Brodhead’s offense. The two teams exchanged points back and forth — neither taking a decisive lead — until the Cardinals’ five-point run to take an 18-10 lead.
Yates sparked the rally with yet another tip, and Fish followed it up with two more kills.
Although New Glarus’ timeout provided some relief, it was too late. A Dix kill solidified the second-set win for Brodhead 25-17.
With their season on the line, the Knights found another gear.
“We didn’t want it to be our last set, so we went out there and played every point like it was our last one,” Schadewalt said. “We wanted to leave it all out there.”
With that mentality, New Glarus scored six straight points for an early 9-5 lead. Schadewalt contributed with two kills to sandwich the rally.
Slowly, Brodhead worked its way back into the set before tying it at 13 and 14 all with kills from Dix and Fish. New Glarus held strong, though, regaining the lead each time.
Kammerer could sense the momentum shifting and called a timeout. It proved beneficial, as the Cardinals scored four points out of the break. Dix found holes on the court, and New Glarus committed a couple of errors. It was then New Glarus’ turn for a momentum-changing timeout, as the Knights regained the lead 24-23.
After Brodhead’s second timeout in six points, Fish and Dix gave the Cardinals a 25-24 lead. Errors kept New Glarus in the game at 25 and 26 all before back-to-back kills from Fish and Makenna Young decided the set 28-26.
The set decided the match, with Brodhead walking away victorious.
“We knew we could stay with them,” Zimmerman said. “We went point for point, and we had the lead for most of that set. It’s just little mistakes. It happens; that’s the game.”
Dix proved to be too tough to handle, totaling 20 kills with two aces and three blocks. Fish and Yates also reached double digit kills with 16 and 10, respectively. Defensively, Jaelyn Hilliard, Kaidynce Bevars and Young each recorded double digit digs. Alexis Kammerer distributed the offense with 46 assists.
While the Cardinals appeared polished, they continue to focus on their serves. Brodhead recorded 11 errors to nine aces at the line.
“I think that came from a lot of energy circling this regional final,” Erin Kammerer said. “It’s always been one of our focuses, and we will continue to focus on how to channel that energy for the good.”
For New Glarus, Nommensen led in three categories: kills (8), assists (13) and digs (11). Schadewalt was another key player for the Knights with six kills and nine assists. Payton Schneider also recorded double digit digs with 10.
“Tonight was proof that we can play with the big teams,” Zimmerman said. “When we needed to rise, we rose. I’m really proud of them. We were the underdog, but we didn’t play like that. We didn’t play scared. We came out aggressive. Our season’s been great. There were some games that got away from us that we probably shouldn’t have let go, but in the end, we were right where we needed to be. We were playing our best ball at the end.”
To set up this showdown, both teams swept their respective opponents in the regional semifinal.
BRODHEAD 3, FENNIMORE 0
BRODHEAD- The Cardinals rolled through Fennimore (13-11, 7-5 SWAL) 25-10, 25-10, 25-21. The Golden Eagles had won a five-set thriller two days earlier against Lancaster (3-22, 1-9 SWC).
Dix and Fish were the stat leaders in kills with 14 and 10, respectively. Alexis Kammerer dominated at the service line with eight aces. She also tallied 29 assists. Dix had a team-leading nine digs, while three others had eight: Yates, Bevars and Young.
NEW GLARUS 3, CUBA CITY 0
NEW GLARUS — The Knights played three competitive sets with Cuba City (19-6, 9-3 SWAL), prevailing 25-19, 25-19, 25-20.
The trio of Nommensen, Schadewalt and Horn led New Glarus statistically. Nommensen had a team-leading 11 kills, 23 assists and 23 digs. Schadewalt trailed with 11 assists and 10 kills. Horn also had 10 kills with 10 blocks and 13 digs. Jordyn Runde loomed at the net with seven blocks.
The Knights graduate seven seniors — who leave big shoes to fill — but will return five juniors. With experience under their belts, New Glarus will look to compete again in the 2023 season.
Brodhead’s season continues into the Sectional. The Cardinals will host SWAL champion Mineral Point (18-6, 11-1) on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
“We get to host one more time on our home court,” Erin Kammerer said. “Our crowd has been awesome. It’s been electrifying to play under these circumstances. I’m hoping it will work toward our advantage.”
