BLANCHARDVILLE — Argyle opened the WIAA Division 4 volleyball playoffs with an emphatic win over rival Pecatonica Oct. 20, advancing to a second-round showdown at top-seeded Black Hawk Oct. 22.
“They’ve really started to peak and they’re starting to put everything together,” Argyle coach Jen Green said after the 25-18, 25-13, 25-8 sweep of the Vikings.
The night opened with a heated back-and-forth exchange. Argyle scored the first four points of the match, then Pec rallied to make 5-4. Another 4-point stretch put the Orioles up by 5, but a Vikings didn’t go away and tied the match at 15.
At that point, Green had seen enough and called a timeout. “I just said that it’s go-time. It’s ‘win or go home,’ and nothing’s guaranteed.”
From that point on, the Orioles out-scored the Vikings 10-3 in the set and 65-24 the rest of the way.
“We definitely needed that reset — that sort of ‘get your heads in it’ and that’s what Jen gives us a lot. She’s really very strong mentally, and she really helps us,” junior setter Megan Johnson said.
Johnson was key to the Orioles offense. She sat for a match a week earlier with a cold — a precautionary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic — and also missed much of the first half of the season in quarantine as well. The team struggled to gain consistency on offense in her absence.
After she returned to the court during the season, the Orioles became a menace to opposing teams. Such was the case against the Vikings.
“I said this before, but the chemistry on this team is all there. We all work so well together,” Johnson said.
With three strong front-row hitters in Maggie Godfrey, Tori Lantz and Grace Ganshert, the Orioles can attack on every possession. Johnson’s steady hands help put the ball in the right spot more often than not.
While the Orioles were clicking on the offensive attack, the team was equally good from the service line — missing just two serves while collecting 12 aces, all of which came in the second and third sets.
The fall of the Vikings came slow at first and sped up as the match rolled along. In the second set, Argyle jumped out to a 5-0 lead and then went up 10-2, forcing coach Liz McGowan to call a timeout. The ship steadied for a bit, and the Vikings brought the score back to within seven at 15-8 thanks to a kill and ace by senior Sydney Eaton, then a block by Tessa Green.
Another 5-1 stretch by Argyle made it 20-9, but the Orioles failed to return the next two volleys and were called for a net violation to bring the score back to within 8.
I had the privilege to coach them last year as juniors, and they’re leaders. The way they’ve stepped up more as seniors, I said to them in the locker room that ‘we will miss you, but we’re also blessed that we have a lot of underclassmen coming back that have learned from you.Pecatonica coach Liz McGowan on seniors Sydney Eaton, Lily Busser and Lexi McSherry
Even the third set maintained a sense that one burst would be all that Pec needed. The Vikings trailed 9-5 before Godfrey slammed down a kill and Ganshert followed with an ace. A net violation and a failure to return a volley made it a run of four points and a 9-point deficit, forcing McGowan to call another timeout. The bleeding didn’t stop for the home team, as the Vikings scored the next five points, which included two more back-breaking aces from Ganshert.
Sienna Runden came in off the bench for the Vikings and scored a side-out with a kill to end the run, but the Orioles got it right back with another Godfrey kill followed by a Johnson ace. Argyle ended the third set — and match — on a 16-3 run.
Godfrey led all hitters with 13 kills and added 12 digs and three aces. Lantz had six kills and five blocks. Ganshert added three aces. Breann Flannery dug out 15 balls and Johnson dished 19 assists for Argyle. Senior Lily Busser finished with four kills and 13 digs, while Eaton had nine assists. Lexi Peterson added four kills and four blocks, and Chloe Schraepfer collected three aces for the Vikings.
“We did a lot of really good things on defense tonight. I think our offense was just not connecting in the way that it has in the past and part of that could be that time off,” McGowan said, referencing her team’s two-week shutdown to COVID-19 precautions at the end of the regular season.
The match was the last in a green and gold uniform for seniors Eaton, Busser and Lexi McSherry. The three played a pivotal role not just this season, but over the past four years as the program has changed hands.
“I had the privilege to coach them last year as juniors, and they’re leaders. The way they’ve stepped up more as seniors, I said to them in the locker room that ‘we will miss you, but we’re also blessed that we have a lot of underclassmen coming back that have learned from you,’” McGowan said.
The winner of the Black Hawk-Argyle match will play Oct. 24 against either Shullsburg or Monticello for the regional championship. The next day, the sectional teams will be re-seeded and game sites determined by the WIAA for the Oct. 29 sectional semifinal and the Oct. 31 final.
“We know (Black Hawk is) a very tough team and we know what they’re capable of, but we also know what we’re capable of, and it’s just putting it all together. We’re going to have to stay mentally strong and confident,” Green said.
The state championships moved away from the UW-Green Bay Resch Center due to the coronavirus outbreak, with four high schools hosting a one-day state semifinals and championship session. Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau West, Little Chute and Kaukauna will all host championship matches, with the destination of each division not yet determined.
