BRODHEAD — The Cardinals opened the WIAA Division 3 volleyball playoffs with a dominant show of force and sat down Clinton in straight sets 25-12, 25-17, 25-14 Oct. 16.

“It’s honestly the best feeling ever when you get your crowd at home and to play on the court that you’re comfortable with and just to have fun with the game,” said senior hitter Alexis Oliver, possibly playing in her final prep home match.

Brodhead, the No. 5 seed, trailed just once total all night — falling behind 4-1 in the opening set.

After getting their feet under themselves just five serves into the match, the Cardinals sprung off a 15-1 run to take a commanding 16-5 lead, which included 11-straight points off the serving of freshman Madisyn Kail.

“Serving is a big momentum-getter and once you’re do-or-die you’ve got to find momentum and I think that’s what gave us the advantage,” Brodhead coach Erin Kammerer said.

Kail had two aces in the match and three serves in the streak that gave Clinton trouble. Kiarra Moe also shined from the service line with four aces and as a team the Cardinals collected 13 aces.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum and that’s what we focus on a lot — what can we do to gain momentum and push harder and not just settle for things. Tonight, we came out with our serves — runs of serves helps a lot. We just got the momentum and cheered at everything and played as a team,” Oliver said.

In Game 2 Clinton tied the game early on at 3-3 after a net violation by Brodhead, but Oliver slammed down a pair of spikes that helped bring all the momentum back to the home team.

“I’m proud to see her step into that role,” Kammerer said of Oliver as a leader on the court. “She hasn’t been comfortable in years before, but I think she’s got a little bit of an idea of what we can do and she’s willing to push for it.”

Before long the Cardinals found themselves up 18-11 after another slam by Oliver, only to let Clinton creep closer with a 5-1 run that made it 19-16.

But Brodhead closed the second set on a 6-1 run, ending with a kill by Johnson.

“Volleyball is my passion, so anytime I’m on the court I just love sharing my passion with everybody — sharing the ball, putting people in better spots and playing all out,” said Johnson, a Viterbo University commit who was seen sprawling and contorting her body all over the court to keep play alive. “I just go all out and don’t let the ball hit the floor, that’s what I’ve been told ever since I started playing. ‘Don’t let the ball hit the court, find the ball, do whatever you have to do.’”

Johnson’s leadership and game-changing ability on the court has been noticeable for years according to Kammerer.

“Not only stat-leader does she come out, but her mentality on the floor and showing everybody that they are important and they are needed to win — she’s definitely done a great job of that,” Kammerer said.

The momentum was all in the home team’s favor in the third set, with Moe scoring a pair of aces which helped the Cardinals spring to a 10-1 advantage and never look back.

“The key is to play our game at our speed — we know what we’re doing and how to do it,” Johnson said.

With reserves getting onto the court midway through the set, Clinton was able to turn a 17-7 deficit into a slightly less commanding 18-13 Brodhead advantage. But the Cardinals regained the momentum to close the door, including another 6-0 run that featured two aces from Moe to move the contest to match-point.

Johnson finished with seven kills, three aces, 14 assists and a pair of digs. Oliver had eight kills and two aces. Junior Katie Goecks had seven kills and a block, Kail had 10 assists and sophomore Sabrina Siegel finished with two aces, a block and a pair of kills.

Brodhead has come a long way this season. The Cardinals came into the year with a strong core of seniors that included Johnson, Oliver, defender Hunter Fields and junior hitter Katie Goecks. However, a slew of incoming freshmen like Moe, Kail and Daisy Nelson made for a bump in the road.

“It’s an amazing experience because coming in we knew that we would have a young team. They’ve really stepped up and been amazing and done everything we’ve asked them for,” Oliver said. “I think that our team as a whole has come so far from the beginning of the year (where) we didn’t have so much experience together. As the season progressed we came together and learned how to play together and we’ve just really become a family, not just a team.”

Brodhead was set to play fourth-seeded Williams Bay Thursday with the winner playing either Wisconsin Heights (1) or Mineral Point (9) tonight for the regional title.

“The past couple years we haven’t made it past the second round of regionals, so that’s definitely one of our main goals right now — push through and see how far we can go,” Johnson said.