MONTICELLO — Two-time defending Six Rivers East champion Black Hawk entered its Sept. 22 matchup at Monticello still trying to find the right chemistry on the court. Black Hawk graduated a slew of starters — including two-time league player of the year, Hannah Butler.

Younger sister Bailey Butler, a future UW-Green Bay basketball player, is no slouch on the volleyball court herself, finishing 2019 as a first-team all-conference player and enters this, her senior year, as a strong candidate to win the 2020 league player of the year award. In a match against Pecatonica the night before, Butler had 30 kills.

“We have a lot of work to do, we really do,” said Warriors coach Rachel Wolff after her team’s sweep of Monticello. “That’s the thing — I know the potential this group has, but not being able to be in the gym and practicing with them is a struggle. I just know what they could be capable of if we had a normal season. But it is what it is and we just have to go with it.”

The hype of the two league powerhouses was too much to bear in the end, with the Warriors walking away with a relatively clean 25-20, 25-16, 25-17.

“I think what we learned against Barneveld was that we have to play one game at a time,” said Rachel Gustafson, Monticello’s coach, adding that she noticed her team likely had been more focused on Black Hawk than taking care of the Eagles first. “We did not play well last night. As much as you want to look ahead, you have to focus on this game now.”

The Ponies, a young team on the rise, also has one of the league’s best all-around players in sophomore outside hitter Ellie Gustafson, a 2019 first-team all-conference player and the owner of 26 kills against Barneveld in a four-set win the night before the Black Hawk match. 

“Our mindset was that we had to stop Gustafson. She’s an amazing hitter. We had to stop her. Once we get our passes up, we can execute,” said Butler.

After six serves of action in the first set, the Ponies led 5-1, with Ellie Gustafson scoring on three kills.

“We were rolling, we had the momentum in that first set,” coach Gustafson said.

Black Hawk rallied with a 5-0 run of its own, and after a side-out to Monticello, the two teams were knotted at 6, with the crowd expecting a night of intense action.

Then an unfortunate landing on a spike attempt took the sails out of the Ponies. Ellie Gustafson went up for a kill attempt at the same time as teammate Hannah Clark, and while the kill landed for a would-be point, Gustafson was called for a net violation. Worse yet, when she landed, she re-tweaked her right ankle and missed the next 14 serves.

“It did feel a little bit like that (deflation when Ellie went down). I thought Jaden (Zuber) did a nice job for us stepping in outside in kind of an unexpected spot,” coach Gustafson said.

Black Hawk out-scored Monticello 11-3 during that stretch to take an 18-9 lead.

After Ellie Gustafson returned, the Ponies brought the score back to within three points at 23-20, but that was as close as they would get.

In the second set, the Warriors went back to work with Butler and sophomore Raylin Peterson owning the net. The two scored on five straight points and Black Hawk jumped out to a 13-4 lead.

“With Raylin, she had a nice night at the net, and we needed her to. With Monticello, there are great hitters, and if you don’t have someone that can take away that first line of defense, it’s going to be a long night if you’re only digging out those balls that they send your way,” Wolff said.

Monticello brought the score back to within five points at 15-10 and then 21-16, but Butler, Makayla Mau and a key block from Emily Triem ended the second set, putting the Ponies on their heels.

“We’re just inconsistent. We get planted — we’ve got to work on moving our feet. We need to work on having consistent defense, consistent setting,” coach Gustafson said. “We had a lot of unforced errors, and they (Black Hawk) don’t make unforced errors. They are a really good team.”

In the third, Monticello led 3-1 after a kill from Ellie Gustafson and 4-3 when Clark knocked down a spike. But the Warriors rattled off a 7-1 run to go up by five and the same story was told during another set. The closest the Ponies would get to evening the score was at 14-12 after a side-out, Mackie Errthum ace and Ellie Gustafson spike. The Warriors then went on another big run (9-2) to all but wrap up the score. 

“I think we were maybe more persistent than consistent. We didn’t let Monticello get the big runs that we know they are capable of. They’ve got some big guns, they’ve got some good passers to targets, they’ve got good servers,” Wolff said.

Butler led Black Hawk with 18 kills, many were of the tip variety along the sidelines or in no-man’s land in the middle of the court.

“I know my spots and my teammates tell me what’s open and not open. The tips were open tonight, and also the hits. I could just kind of go wherever,” Butler said.

Wolff said having a player of Butler’s overall caliber is immeasurable.

“She’s a smart player and has always been a smart player. She doesn’t need to do the spectacular hits; she just plays it smart. You can’t replace that either, because it’s like having a coach out there on the court. She sees a lot,” Wolff said.

Mau had three aces and Peterson added two blocks. Erika Schultz led the Warriors with eight digs, and Macie Stauffacher was the assist leader with 14.

Ellie Gustafson led Monticello with 16 kills, while Clark and Katelyn Eyler added four each. Alexa Siegenthaler had 15 assists and two blocks. Gustafson and Macey Grant each finished with nine digs.

The next opportunity for the Ponies to right the ship was Sept. 24 at Albany. A back-to-back at Juda and then home against Barneveld Sept. 28-29 would put the Ponies more than halfway through the conference-only season.

The Warriors, meanwhile, were set to host Argyle Sept. 24, then play at Pecatonica Sept. 29.