BELLEVILLE — Every chapter of the Highway 69 rivalry — whether in basketball, football, baseball or volleyball — has its own flare, and the volleyball match between New Glarus and Belleville on Oct. 17 was no exception. The Wildcats won the first two games — the second by a smaller margin than the first — before the Knights claimed a victory in the third set. Ultimately, Belleville won in four — 25-15, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16.
“I hope we can start off a game with that type of energy that we brought to the third set,” NG junior Ella Woodmansee said. “We need to get to this point a little quicker. We have little instances of greatness and then it fluctuates.”
The Knights dug themselves an early 9-3 hole — in part because they couldn’t stop Bree Ranguette, but also because of attack errors trying to hit cross-court.
After New Glarus head coach Kayla Zimmerman called a timeout with her team trailing 16-8, the Knights went on a 6-1 run. Kalia Malaise recorded a kill and rotated to the service line for an ace. After yet another Ranguette kill, Audry Brueggemann kept a rally alive with a dig. The possession ended in a point for NG. She then got a kill off a block, and Ellie Brenkman and Kate Parman registered a block of their own.
But Belleville closed the set out on an 8-1 run. Ranguette fired up again with two more kills. Lillana Weiland and Anna Alexander tallied the final point with a double block.
New Glarus steadily improved in the second game, tying it at 3-3. But with back-to-back kills from Bryn Prochaska — and even more errors attempting to hit cross-court — the Wildcats took a 15-8 lead.
Zimmerman’s timeout proved beneficial once again, as Brenkman found a groove. She tallied a kill off a block and, on the very next point, smashed an overpass for another kill.
New Glarus got within three points, 17-14, but its offense struggled the rest of the way. Outside of a Kennedi Esser tip kill, the Knights only scored on Wildcat errors.
But the third set started with a different vibe for New Glarus. The Knights tied the game three times before Woodmansee registered a kill for NG’s first lead of the night, 6-5. New Glarus struggled to maintain a lead — recording a point before giving it right back with a service error — until Woodmansee went back to the service line. With her there, the Knights went on a 4-point run and forced Belleville’s first timeout of the night.
“I just want to make sure everyone has confidence in themselves. I think going crazy, acting like nobody is watching you, is the best type of energy,” Woodmansee said of trying to rally her teammates during the stretch. “That’s what volleyball is all about. You let loose and play your game.”
Belleville came back to knot the game five more times, as late as 23-23. NG won the next point with a double block from Brenkman and Parman. It appeared as though Ranguette tied the set again with a kill, but she was called for an attack error, giving NG the set victory.
The fourth set started tight, too, with three ties. But this time, it was Alexander that got hot. She had a block and two kills, which helped Belleville gain a 12-6 lead.
The Wildcats built up their lead to 10 points, 24-14, with an attack error from Addison Kammerud. A service error from Jaycee Dimaggio led to the match victory.
Belleville (8-2) finished second in the Capitol South, just one game back of winners Marshall (9-1). New Glarus (4-6) was in the middle of the pack.
