DARLINGTON — It took a little while for Darlington to shake off the rust following an unplanned week off as the school went into shutdown mode with COVID-19 related issues.
However, once the rust got knocked off, the Redbirds got on a roll and could not be slowed down as they remained unbeaten in SWAL play with 25-12, 25-16, 25-11 sweep Oct. 8 over the visiting Boscobel Bulldogs.
“It’s no surprise we started off slow. I think our defense was really good tonight, but our setters and hitter just couldn’t connect with each other that first game. Once they did, it was a lot of fun,” said Darlington head coach Danielle Duerst.
The Redbirds (6-0 in SWAL, 6-1 overall) were originally supposed to play the Bulldogs on Tuesday night to begin the end-of-year SWAL tournament, but with each school dealing with COVID-19 cases at the end of last week, that game was called off.
On Monday night, the Darlington School Board voted to allow the volleyball team to return to competition using only players who were not in quarantine. The Redbirds were unable to face the winner of Tuesday’s SWAL match against Mineral Point and Iowa-Grant on Thursday, so instead they met Boscobel for a third time this season and swept the season series with their third sweep.
With their timing visibly off in their passing, setting and hitting, the Redbirds went back-and-forth with the Bulldogs to open set one. Boscobel grabbed the lead twice early on thanks to a pair of unforced errors by the ‘Birds. The guests returned a point on a missed serve to tie the score at 5-5, and then Redbird senior Laura Sturtz stepped to the line and served up six straight points — with three aces and two kills from senior middle hitter Sydney Beasley — to put the hosts into the lead to stay at 11-5.
The Bulldogs crept back within two at 13-11, but a pair of kills from junior Taylor Wedig during junior Kaylee Schwartz’s four-point turn at serve pumped the lead back up to seven.
Wedig got the serve back for the ‘Birds with another kill, and she stepped to the line and served up the final six points with an ace and two kills by Beasley to seal a 25-12 decision.
“At practice, we worked a lot on talking on the court. When we played them at Boscobel a week ago, it was deader than a doornail there. I don’t care if it’s just a bunch of jibber-jabber. As long as we’re making noise that’s going to help our intensity,” Duerst said. “We started off slow, but we really picked up our talking (midway through set one) which helped our offense.”
Wedig scored the first three points of set two to give the ‘Birds a lead they would never let go of en route to a 25-16 win that put them up 2-0. Beasley tallied five spike kills and one block kill in the set, while sophomore Jaylyn Schwartz chipped in with two kills and two aces in the set.
Darlington jumped ahead 3-0 again to start set three, and then build up an early 9-1 advantage on a five-point service run by senior Kaylyn McGuire.
Boscobel got no closer than six points the rest of the way as Wedig notched four kills and an ace down the stretch along with a pair of kills from Sturtz to locked down the sweep with a 25-11 decision.
Wedig finished the night serving 21-of-23 for the hosts with three aces, seven kills, two blocks and nine digs. Beasley led the hitters with 14 kills and four blocks, while Sturtz served 14-of-15 with five aces and added seven kills and 26 assists.
McGuire was a perfect 15-of-15 serving with two kills and 13 digs. Kaylee Schwartz led the team with 16 digs. Senior Cori Golackson aided the Birds’ balanced hitting attack with six kills, and Jaylyn Schwartz stepped up with four kills and two aces on the night.
“A lot of our hitters are starting to come along. At the beginning of the season, we were going to Sydney all the time. Right now, Taylor and Cori are really coming along at the net, and others are stepping up and filling shoes when we need them to. We are making it happen,” Duerst said.
Darlington will not make-up match the against Mineral Point on Oct. 13. The Redbirds close the regular season with a non-conference match scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 17 at Lancaster on Oct. 17.
The WIAA Division 3 volleyball tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 20, with regional quarterfinal matches. The pairings were not available at press time.
“I feel like we’re starting to make good progress. That’s what every team wants to see at the end of the season. We’re making that uphill climb at the right time,” Duerst said.
