DARLINGTON — Quarterfinals? The Redbirds hardly know them. 

Eighth-seeded Darlington advanced from the WIAA Division 3 Regional first round for the ninth straight time with a 3-1 win over 9-seed Mauston (15-14, 7-3 South Central) on Oct. 22 — 27-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-14.

Despite the first set’s extra rally finish, Darlington (17-13, 9-3 SWAL) got off to a hot start, 7-2. An attack error from the Golden Eagles’ court sent off the first point. They made up for the mistake with a quick kill on the next rally. 

The Redbirds’ offense got theirs next — a winding rally that traded courts eight times and ended in a Lilly Ritchie kill. Her spike lost most of its momentum off the front defenders’ fingertips and fell into the middle of Mauston’s court.

Another Golden Eagle error preceded a Ricthie kill with a pair of Catie Hartwig aces to follow. Mauston finally got its second point with a kill right after the serve, and Maddie Gratz responded in kind for Darlington.

The Redbirds’ 5-point lead was trimmed on a 4-2 run from the Golden Eagles, where both squads earned just one point each from kills — the rest were gained from attack or service errors.

Hartwig secured a kill to put her squad back up by four points, then points flowed exclusively through Mauston, whether it was for them, or for Darlington.

The Golden Eagles first earned a kill and an ace, then both a netted serve and attack left the Redbirds with the same lead they’d attempted maintaining. Mauston locked down on its errors, earning a pair of kills to go along with two attacking errors from Darlington’s camp, tying the game.

Five more points were added to the Golden Eagles’ total before the Redbirds added to their total again. Allie Andrews was the culprit, as her attack flew into a defender at the net and straight down to the court.

Mauston committed an error, with a Ritchie kill to follow. The Golden Eagles did earn a point, but an error from their camp negated the gain. Gratz trimmed the deficit to 18-17, eliciting a Mauston timeout.

The Golden Eagles came out of the break swinging and ran out to a 24-20 lead ahead of a Darlington timeout. A Mauston attack error set the tone for the remaining rallies. Another error followed, and Gratz scored a kill to bring the game back to one point down for the Redbirds, 24-23.

Kaycee Wedig tied things up with an ace, but a ball handling error kept the deficit against Darlington. Thankfully, a short serve from the Golden Eagles tied the game back up. Mauston committed another error on the attack in the following rally, and a Ritchie kill sent the set away in favor of the host school.

The Redbirds came out even hotter in the second. They opened with six unanswered points. A pair of Golden Eagles kills alongside an attacking error from Darlington trimmed the advantage.

Another massive run, this time 8-3, for the Redbirds all but put the set away. Mauston did gain a little ground toward the end, but a 20-12 differential was too much for it to overcome.

The final five points came from an ace and a kill from Wedig, a Ritchie kill, and a pair of kills from Hartwig.

The third set worked much like the first. After the opening rallies leveled out, Darlington worked at, or near, a tie for the majority of the set. The only problem being that the team with the lead was almost exclusively the Golden Eagles.

The lone exception — besides the first few rallies — was a Ritchie kill to give her squad a 20-19 lead.

Almost all of the set-closing points ran through Mauston, including the Redbirds’ last point, as the Golden Eagles came away with the set.

Darlington had no interest carrying the match into a fifth set, and the 8-2 run favoring the Redbirds at the outset of the fourth set that tone quickly.

Five of Darlington’s points came by way of Ritchie kills — a combined block by Hartwig and Raynie Norgard, a Mauston error, and a Hartwig ace were the other three.

Errors continued to be a point machine for both sides as the Redbirds ran to a 13-6 lead, and a Norgard ace pushed the lead to eight points. The squads traded errors ahead of Darlington stringing together points. 

Gratz, Andrews, and Wedig all added a kill, with another Andrews kill following a serving error by the Redbirds. The Golden Eagles committed another error, with a timeout from their coach as a 20-8 Darlington lead loomed.

Mauston benefited from the break with a trio of points, though Gratz minimized the damage with a pair of points at the net.

Another mistake from the Golden Eagles matched a Redbirds serving error. A free ball blunder from Mauston put Darlington one point away from sealing the win.

The Golden Eagles didn’t go quietly, however. They earned a kill and a block to show a little struggle, before Gratz sent a spike to the back right corner of Mauston’s court to kill any hope of a comeback.

Ritchie and Gratz led the Redbird offense with 17 and 13 kills, respectively. Gratz also showed up as a top-3 athlete for digs with 17, though Andrews led the pack at 19 with Jaycie Schwartz (13) in tow. Andrews’ night found the most success where it has a majority of the season — assisting. She had 32 against the Golden Eagles, which is also more than their combined assist total of 31. Hartwig claimed the most aces on the night at four, with Andrews, Wedig, and Ritchie all earning two.