BRODHEAD — The Cardinals hosted their third-straight regional championship, and for the second straight year, they walked off the court with a plaque for the school wall and a shot to play in the sectional round.
Top-seeded Brodhead steamrolled Darlington and New Glarus in back-to-back matches Oct. 21 and 23, and will host No. 2-seed Cuba City Oct. 28 in the sectional semifinal. Last season, in the spring 2021 alternate fall campaign, Brodhead made it to the state championship in Division 2 of the two-division tournament. This year, with a normal playoff format underway, the Cardinals are back in Division 3.
“I’m hoping we take some of that feel, some of that mindfulness that we had to deal with last year. A lot of the battle right now is not the physical skill, but what we can think through, what we can visualize,” Brodhead coach Erin Kammerer said.
The Cardinals dominated Darlington 25-14, 25-10, 25-10, serving at a 90.4% clip with 11 aces, and connecting on 37 kills to just seven errors. The 25-14, 25-5, 25-18 win over New Glarus in the regional final also had a 90.4% service rate, but with 20 aces. Brodhead also had 35 kills to just six errors.
“One of our goals was to come out with a quick start and not play with butterflies,” Erin Kammerer said. “That first touch has always been something we’ve focused on. Tonight we were strong in our serves. It was a great way to kick it off.”
Knights coach Kayla Zimmerman said her team was hesitant against the Cardinals, ranked eighth in the state. Just two days earlier, the Knights held strong in defeating Mineral Point in four sets, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 25-22.
“I think a different team showed up tonight that did on Thursday. I think there was a little hesitation, a little trepidation and we played like that,” Zimmerman said.
Brodhead set the tone early against New Glarus, with the Cardinals running off an 11-0 run early in the first set. New Glarus led at 1-0 and 2-1, but the run by Brodhead kept the Knights fighting from behind for the rest of the match besides a 1-0 lead in the third set. Leading the charge in the initial run was junior setter Alexis Kammerer, Erin’s daughter. She had six aces alone in the stretch.
“We just could not shake it off and it put us in the hole from the start,” Zimmerman said.
The second set was even more forgettable for the Knights, who fell behind 16-2 and struggled in all facets — passing, hitting, and simply returning a volley. Eight of Brodhead’s 25 points in the set came on unforced errors.
“Everyone was working really well, serving it over and getting it done,” Alexis Kammerer said.
Brodhead jumped out to a 7-point lead in the third set at 11-4, and then held strong at 16-9, but the Knights kept chipping away — finally showing the fight that Zimmerman had hoped to see much earlier in the night.
“We didn’t want to give up without a fight. The second set was not a good set and we wanted to forget that and show everyone it wasn’t like us, because we haven’t played like that all year,” New Glarus senior Ellie Eichelkraut said.
New Glarus pulled to within three points at 18-15 and 20-17, but simply could not get any closer. Zimmerman called a timeout at 23-18 and gave her two seniors —Eichelkraut and Emma Marty — one final moment to catch their breath. The pair have spent all four years in high school on the varsity roster, taking a bottom-of-the-barrel team into a conference title contender.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what those two have brought to the program. They’ve been an integral part of bringing some success back to New Glarus volleyball,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t know the exact date, but somebody posted on Facebook that this was our first regional final in 30 years. I told the girls this is nothing to hang their heads on — even though it didn’t go the way we wanted.”
Eichelkraut had a single kill and three aces in her final match, while Marty tallied just two digs. Lindsey Schadewalt and Grace Nommensen each had five kills and combined for 11 assists. In the regional semifinal win over Mineral Point, Nommensen had 16 kills, 12 assists and 14 digs; Schadewalt finished with 11 kills, 17 assists and 7 digs; Marty tallied four kills and 10 digs; Veronica Tollakson aced five serves; and Amber Horn had three kills, seven digs and two blocks.
“I’m just happy I got to be a part of everything. My freshman year we were not a very good team, and my senior year we were playing in the regional final. I think it’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come since then,” Eichelkraut said. “It sucks (that it’s over), but we had a great season. We have a great team, and next year they will be great, because they have a lot of people back that are all really great.”
Abbie Dix had 13 kills, three blocks and three aces for Brodhead, while Kammerer finished with 30 assists and 10 aces. Daisy Nelson added three aces, and McKenna Young chipped in with eight kills. Outside hitter Kirsten Fish finished the night with seven kills and block. Every Cardinal bench player entered the match and saw significant time on the court.
Against Darlington, Dix had 11 kills; Kammerer 32 assists and two aces; Kiarra Moe had 11 digs; Madisyn Kail tallied five aces; Fish notched two blocks and seven kills and Nelson had a pair of aces.
Up next is Cuba City, the champion of the SWAL that received an honorable mention nod in the final week of the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association rankings. The winner of the Oct. 28 sectional semifinal will play either No. 2-ranked Lake Country Lutheran or No. 7-ranked Randolph at Waterloo Oct. 30.
