BARNEVELD — After a thrilling five-set victory over No. 4 Shullsburg on Thursday, No. 5 Pecatonica was unable to muster enough energy to surpass No. 1 Barneveld in a WIAA Division 4 regional final on Saturday, Oct. 21.
“Their ability to stay tough, play their game and not give up in those other five-set regional games was huge,” Pecatonica head coach Liz McGowan said, referencing the five-set win over Potosi, too. “We saw that in set two tonight. We saw it other times throughout, but it was a little too late.”
The excitement headed into the regional match was high, though. The Vikings knocked off a higher-ranked team and looked to do the same against the Eagles. In their last meeting just over two weeks ago, Pecatonica beat No. 9-ranked Barneveld in five sets.
“We were really excited to come here, and we had a lot of confidence coming in,” senior Anna Tisch said.
The momentum lasted all but one point, though. Loretta Tisch began the first set with an ace but her subsequent error sparked a four-point Eagle rally. Barneveld extended its lead to 9-4, forcing Pecatonica’s first timeout.
Loretta Tisch won the first point out of the break on a kill from the back row, but the Vikings gave the momentum back again with another service error. Pecatonica took its second timeout of the set — trailing 16-7 — following back-to-back aces from Erin Lasse and a block from Taylee Thousand.
The Vikings made a small push at the end of the set with a block and kill from Mikaela Gross, but Lasse ended the first set 25-15 with a kill.
Pecatonica won the first point of the second set and extended its lead to 10-4, as middle hitter Madelyn Cleary got hot. The junior tallied two kills during the run.
After a Barneveld timeout, Cleary kept her foot on the gas. She recorded three straight points, including a smash on an overpass. Loretta Tisch followed with an ace that fell in front of the Eagles’ back row, giving the Vikings a 16-7 lead.
Although Barneveld went on a 6-1 run down the stretch to force a Pecatonica timeout, three Eagle errors and back-to-back aces from Anna Tisch gave the Vikings the 25-17 win.
Set three started off tight with four ties and three lead changes before Barneveld took the lead for good on a kill from Ambrea Daisy Hanson. With a block and ace from Thousand, McGowan called a timeout.
Seven points later — with only one of them in her team’s favor — McGowan called her second timeout as the Vikings trailed 15-6.
While Pecatonica stayed within six points of Barneveld thanks to a free ball kill from Cleary and attacks from Diana Hendrickson, a free ball error gave the Eagles the third set 25-17.
By the fourth set, Barneveld had settled in. The Eagles jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and closed out the match on a 8-1 run. Defensively, Barneveld limited Pecatonica’s runs to just two points at a time.
With the loss, Pecatonica’s season came to an end. The Vikings finished 12-7 overall and 10-2 in the Six Rivers East — runners up to Barneveld.
“We have six seniors. As a coach, that is really tough,” McGowan said. “Each of our seniors has a crazy important role on this team. There’s been such a big mindset shift this year, and our seniors have done a lot for our program.”
BARNEVELD 3, ARGYLE 1
BARNEVELD — While Pecatonica advanced to the regional final with a 25-20, 25-23, 14-25, 17-25, 18-16 win over Shullsburg, Barneveld did so by knocking off Argyle 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18.
“We have a pretty young team and still need to work on building confidence,” Argyle head coach Jen Butler said. “Barneveld is a good team and we were battling the whole night. I’m very proud of the progress the girls had this season. They’ve come a long way from day one.”
Kylie Butler led the Oriole offense with 14 kills, while Ava Wiegel distributed the ball with 31 assists. Four different players tallied 10 or more digs — Butler (21) Avari Steiner (22), Mya McNett (14) and Sadie Steiner (22).
