DARLINGTON — In a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal, No. 4 Darlington drew No. 5 New Glarus, a team the Lady Redbirds had lost to in the season opener. The team showed just how much it grew, sweeping New Glarus to advance to the regional final.
“We have a whole new lineup now,” Darlington head coach Danielle Duerst said. “We’ve grown every game this year, and we are hoping to keep going. New Glarus has also grown. They looked completely different than the first time we saw them.”
The first set showed just how tight of a match it would be, as the two teams tied the set up nine times with five lead changes.
New Glarus set the tone early, building up a 14-11 lead. With a kill from Ellie Brenkman and Redbird miscommunication, Duerst called her first timeout. In the huddle, Darlington flipped a switch, coming out of the pause on a five-point run.
Darlington’s defense blocked a Knight attack, sending Maddie Gratz back to the service line for an ace. An error from Brenkman tied the set at 14, and another ace from Gratz gave Darlington the edge.
Although New Glarus came back to tie the set at 19 and 22 on a kill from Veronica Tollakson and an error by Allie Andrews, Darlington held on for the 25-22 win. The Redbirds won the last three points on two errors and a kill from Lilly Ritchie.
“That first set showed the level of consistency we strive to play with every set,” New Glarus head coach Kayla Zimmerman said. “Unfortunately, we had so many ups and downs and unforced errors that we just couldn’t hold on.”
Lindsey Schadewalt gave New Glarus a brief 2-1 lead in the second set before skill from Gratz propelled Darlington the rest of the way.
Gratz’s attack sparked a 10-3 run, where Ritchie and Jaidyn Evenstad tallied two kills each. Following a Knight error, Zimmerman called a timeout with her team trailing 11-5.
New Glarus was able to trim Darlington’s lead down to five points, 18-13, with a four point run. Kaycee Wedig’s serve went into the net, and Schadewalt recorded back-to-back kills.
Once Darlington switched up its offense, though, the Knights began to falter. Evenstad received a quick, cross-court set from Aubrey McCarthy and knocked it down for a kill.
“In offense, we need to speed them (New Glarus) up,” Gratz said. “If we speed the ball up, it messes up their coverage. If we are just running a regular two, their defense is set. When we are running quicks, we can get them out of system or even get a kill.”
The Redbirds kept their foot on the gas, cruising to a 25-15 win in set two.
Knowing her senior season was on the line, New Glarus’s Tollakson urged her team to give its best effort in set three.
“I knew that it could be my last night, so I needed to give it my all no matter what,” Tollakson said. “I told my teammates, ‘It’s right now. We have to go.’”
New Glarus won the first three points, with Tollakson tallying a kill and ace. The lead was short-lived, though, as Knight miscommunication on the next point sparked a Redbird rally.
Wedig tied the set at three with an ace, and a tip from Evenstad gave Darlington a lead it didn’t relinquish. The Redbirds doubled up the Knights, 12-6, highlighted by two digs from Zoe Zuberbuhler that fell for kills.
The Knights got within one and three points, forcing Redbird timeouts each time. On the second, with Darlington leading 22-19, DHS assistant coach Pam Ritchie had a message.
“When we called a timeout, we brought it back together. Green light, green light. Go,” Gratz said. “That really helped us.”
The Redbirds scored the final three points on a Knight lift, a block from Andrews and Ava Hendrickson, and a kill from McCarthy to take the set 25-21 and the game 3-0.
“I think we all worked together and we are peaking at the point that we need to,” Gratz said of the regional semifinal win.
Darlington’s playoff run came to an end in the regional final, though, where the Redbirds faced SWAL champion Mineral Point. The Pointers, who received votes in the final WVCA poll, beat the Redbirds in five-set thriller, 25-9, 20-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-8.
