NEW GLARUS — The Glarner Knights stayed within a game of Waterloo for first place in the Capitol Conference race, beating rival Belleville in a lively four-set match Oct. 5, 25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 25-19.

Not only was the competition on the floor tight throughout, with each team reaching a 5-point or more lead for only a handful of serves all night, but the energy brought from the student sections and spectators added color to the game.

“We didn’t have this in the spring,” New Glarus coach Kayla Zimmerman said. “There was really no spectators except parents.”

The opposing fans threw out friendly banter during moments of pause — timeouts and intermissions between sets — as well as worked together to perform “the wave”. A New Glarus student even tripped crossing half court at intermission between the third and fourth sets, with his own classmates and friendly Belleville comrades pretending to perform CPR to bring him back to health. 

“Because we are starting to win, the fans have started coming in. It doesn’t hurt that we have our principal as our football coach, and he encourages them to come,” Zimmerman said.

On the court, the two squads knew they would be in for a back-and-forth ride. New Glarus opened the first period on a 4-0 run, only for the Wildcats to get a side-out and three straight aces to tie it up. Eventually Belleville took a 10-6 lead.

While the Knights were able to lock down the first game, the Wildcats rallied to take the third game by eight points, pulling away at the end.

“Our team does like to fight,” said Melinda Bigler, Belleville’s head coach. “They like to play and just have fun — and that’s when they are at their best. In Game 2, we told them just to go play volleyball. Just play. That’s all you have to do tonight — just play. Don’t think too hard.”

The third set was the pivotal moment for both clubs. Neither team could pull away from the other, and the two schools were squared away as late as 20-20.

Even in the fourth set it was an even contest early on, with the two schools knotted at 9-9 and later 14-14. A 3-point run by New Glarus made it 17-14, and Belleville never recovered.

Grace Nommensen finished the night with 13 kills, 13 digs, 10 assists and two aces for New Glarus. Emma Marty had nine kills, while Amber Horn and Lindsey Schadewalt each had seven kills. Schadewalt added 16 assists, 12 digs and three aces.

Perhaps turning point for Schadewalt was in the third set. Setting up to serve, the ball fell out of her hand. Confused on what to do, she threw the ball up and let it drop for a retry, but the side-out was awarded to Belleville. Late in the next set with the score tight, she headed back to the service line with a look of ultra-focus in her eyes.

“She’s a fierce competitor in any sport. I knew that she was a little upset — and yeah, we got robbed on that call — but she bounced back. She knew when it was on the line, she was going to do her job,” Zimmerman said.

Serving played a vital role for the Knights all evening, as the team finished with 13 aces. Veronica Tollakson led New Glarus with four aces, and Ellie Eichelkraut added three more.

Callie Smith finished with a team-high 16 kills for Belleville, with Alyssa Caskey adding seven more. Mikayla Caskey had four aces and Morgan Messner finished the night with three. Addy Edge dished out 15 assists, and Kenna Edge had 14. Mel Humke had a team-high 21 digs, with Smith adding 20 of her own.

“Looking at their schedule, it seems they take a set from everybody,” Zimmerman said of Belleville. “They are nothing to look past, ever.”

The Knights (6-2 Capitol South) trail Waterloo (7-1) by one game in the standings with three matches yet to play. The Pirates swept New Glarus in both head-to-head battles already this fall. 

“I think mentally, it’s still Waterloo. It’s still a mental hurdle,” Zimmerman said. This season has continued the program’s ascent from just a few seasons ago, going from the bottom of the barrel to now competing for the league title. “This is a huge improvement to where we were four years ago. Going into the seeding meeting, we’re feeling pretty positive. We’ve played some top competition at tournaments and have done well. We took a set from Brodhead, which hasn’t happened often.”

Belleville (3-5), meanwhile, knocked off Waterloo in a thriller earlier this season on Sept. 14, and play the Pirates next on Oct. 12. 

If anything, the Capitol Conference has shown that a win is up for grabs every single night.

“We’ve all talked about it as Capitol Conference coaches — we don’t know what any night could bring. We definitely need to play the game to see what’s going to happen,” Bigler said. “It’s a fun conference to play in, but you have to bring your best every single night.”

Belleville has had to adjust late here this season, as on-court leader Ava Foley injured her wrist and is likely out for the season unless the Wildcats make a deep run in the postseason, which begins in Oct. 19.

“It’s her senior year and she’s out at least four weeks. She sees her doctor soon,” Bigler said. “She’s really been a staple of our team for four years and is a phenomenal player both front row and back row. Her coming off the floor has been a major impact for us, both physically and mentally. She’s always been a solid player for us and a leader. It is a big adjustment for us, and we were playing our best right in the middle of our season.”