BLANCHARDVILLE — The Pecatonica Vikings won in five sets to defeat the Southwestern Wildcats in a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal on Thursday Oct. 30. The Vikings outlasted the Wildcats 25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 15-11.

The Vikings won the first set behind a flourish at the end by Aleah Harris and Tatum Kurschner. With the score 22-16, Harris and Kurschner each got a kill and Kurschner scored an ace to give Pecatonica the win in the first set 25-17.

In the second set, Pecatonica got a 23-18 lead when Loretta Tisch got back-to-back kills and Kurschner finished it off with a kill to win the set 25-19 and give Pec a 2-0 game advantage.

Southwestern was able to stay alive with a 25-21 win in set three. The Wildcats then evened it up by winning set four 25-22, forcing a winner-take-all tie-breaking fifth set. 

In the final set, Harris had back-to-back kills to get the Vikings and Wildcats even at 5-5. A service error on Southwestern and a kill by Harris helped keep the score tight moments later at 9-9. A short bit later, a kill by Tisch helped turn the momentum. With Pecatonica ahead 13-10, a serve into the net by Southwestern gave the Vikings a 14-10 lead. Southwestern scored two more points, but Tisch slammed home a kill to win it for Pecatonica at 15-12.

WIAA Division 5 Sectional Final

St. Ambrose Academy 3, Pecatonica 1

BARNEVELD – The St. Ambrose Academy Guardians turned back the Pecatonica Vikings attempt to reach the WIAA Division 5 State Volleyball Tournament by beating the Vikings in four sets, 25-16, 26-24, 17-25, 25-17 on Saturday Nov. 1 at Barneveld.

The third-seeded Vikings fell behind 15-10 in set one, but Tisch got a kill and Katelynne Jorenby got a block-kill to get the Vikings to within 15-12. But, a 10-2 finish by No. 2 seed St. Ambrose allowed the Guardians to take set one 25-16.

The Guardians jumped out to an 18-13 lead in set two, but Kurschner got an ace and Brooklyn Muench got a kill to pull the Vikings to within 18-16 and force St. Ambrose to call a timeout. Down 24-22, Tisch blasted a pair of kills to tie the set at 24-24. But, St. Ambrose ended the set with a pair of kills to win 26-24.

The Vikings weren’t about to go quietly and won the third set 25-17 as a block-kill by Harris and a kill by Muench tied the set at 14-14. A kill by Harris and an ace by Muench put the Vikings on the doorstep at 24-17. Tisch closed the book on set three with a kill to give the Vikings a 25-17 win. 

But, the Vikings were unable to recover from a 16-10 deficit in set four. Kurschner got a kill off the top of the net to make it 16-11 and Tisch got a long kill from the middle row to get the Vikings to 19-14. Another kill by Tisch made it 19-16. St. Ambrose finished the set with an ace to win 25-17 and take the match 3-1. 

Tisch had 24 kills,19 digs, and three aces for the Vikings (16-8). Kurschner had 29 assists and Harris had four blocks. 

Vikings coach Melissa Schlimgen spoke about the seniors on her team and how they led the Vikings just one win short of a state tournament berth. 

“What a ride,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the seniors. You saw that shift in the third set and that was all them. They were able to get the energy on our court despite losing the first two sets. That’s what pulled us through.”

Graduating seniors for the Vikings are Brooklynn Johnsrud, Chayse Hirsch, Loretta Tisch and Tatum Kurschner.