HILBERT – The Ponies have been striking through goals all season.
Their home tournament in August. Conference champions. Regional champions.
And now: Sectional champions.
“The goal is always to win the conference, and after that we just took it one game at a time, and we never tried to look passed that,” Monticello coach Rebecca Gustafson said.
After defeating Central Wisconsin Christian and Hilbert in the WIAA Sectional tournament, Monticello will play in a WIAA state volleyball tournament for the first time in school history.
“This is insane,” senior Hannah Clark reacted. “I knew we could do it, but it’s just crazy.”
Gustafson had to keep reminding herself after the 3-0 clincher over Hilbert Oct. 30 that her team was, in fact, headed to the promised land.
“We are going to state. It still hasn’t hit me that we are going to state – it still feels like we just won a game to move on to the next game,” she said. “This is something that I dreamed of as a kid, since I was 12, and made it to the sectional final and lost to Highland.”
Her elementary volleyball coach – the person who introduced her to the sport she then fell in love with, was in attendance, as well as other family and friends.
“I was a basketballer until he got me into loving volleyball,” Gustafson said.
The school rarely gets to represent itself at state in any sport. In the 1920s, the boys basketball team went to state in 1921 and 1926, and in 1922 and 1924 the Monticello boys track and field teams were state champions. In modern times, the 1991 girls basketball state championship is the lone trip to state without a co-op. In fact, the only other school currently in the Six Rivers East that has reached the state volleyball tournament was Pecatonica in 1994.
“It feels awesome. It feels like our school is a lot closer now and we have something to be excited about. We’re just really supportive of each other,” said Ellie Gustafson, a junior captain.
This year’s WIAA Division 4 state tournament will be held Nov. 5-6 at the Resch Center in Green Bay. The semifinals will be played simultaneously at 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, with the championship 24 hours later.
Monticello received the No. 1 overall seed and will face Wabeno-Laona in the semifinal, with the winner getting either McDonnell Catholic Central or Wonewoc-Center in the championship.
How they got here
The Ponies opened the season by sweeping their own tournament back in August, and finished second at the Richland Center Tournament, losing their only match of the year in a three-set thriller to Reedsburg, a Division 2 state qualifier.
Monticello then swept the Six Rivers East, winning the school’s first conference title since 2014. After receiving a first-round bye in the playoffs, Monticello swept Fall River and Hustisford in regionals. In the section semifinal in Monticello Oct. 28, the Ponies defeated Central Wisconsin Christian in four sets, and two days later took down Hilbert in a 3-0 sweep on the road.
Since coming to Monticello four years ago, coach Rebecca Gustafson’s focus was to change the culture of the sport in the school – making the game fun again, all while finding success in the wins column.
Easier said than done, but Gustafson et al have done just that.
“I think we’ve come a long way since I was a freshman,” senior Katelyn Eyler said. “It feels so great to finally get this far.”
With daughter Ellie in tow three years ago, the Ponies jumped into a conference contender with Black Hawk, one of the league’s premier schools year-in and out. A first-team all-conference hitter as a freshman and sophomore, Ellie brought the boom-stick to lift up the spirits of many on the team, and her success in the club circuit helped lead other teammates to continue honing their craft even when the WIAA season is dormant.
After a tough loss to Black Hawk in the COVID-19-riddled season in 2020, the returning Ponies wanted to keep their focus on 2021, understanding the success that could be waiting in front of them.
“It’s amazing to know that all of our hard work – everyone’s hard work up to this point – paid off. Not even that last point, this whole game. We trusted each other, we worked together, and that just means everything,” Clark said.
Sectional Semifinal
Monticello 3, CWC 1
On Oct. 28 the Ponies played their final match of the season on their home court, and sneaking past CW in come-from-behind fashion, 31-33, 25-16, 25-18, 27-25.
Both teams wanted to set the tone early, but both were neck-and-neck in the first set much of the way. CWC had pulled out ahead 20-15, but a 9-2 Monticello run put the home team at game-point at 24-22. CWC rallied back and went on to win the set, but perhaps exhausted themselves moving forward.
“I think as a team we are pretty good at staying steady with our emotions, so even if we lose the first one, we are able to battle back. I don’t think they were expecting that – I don’t think they were expecting that fire to come back,” Clark said.
In the second set, the two teams were tied at 5-5, but Monticello took 15 of the next 18 points to go ahead 20-8 and coasted from there.
“We just needed to believe in ourselves and push as hard as we could – leaving it all out on the floor,” Eyler said.
CWC opened Game 3 on a 5-1 run, and the two teams were squared away at 9-9. Then the Ponies went on another big run and pulled ahead 20-12 after a Jaden Zuber ace and a miscue from the CWC back row.
In the fourth and final set, Monticello scored the first five points and later led 19-12, but Rebecca Gustafson gives credit to CWC for fighting back and eventually tying the game at 23, 24 and 25.
The biggest strategic headscratcher came with the score evened up in the pivotal moment at 25-25, as Crusaders coach Dan Ten Napel took star junior hitter Ada Simes out of the game for her serve, replacing her with freshman Kaelie Perry, who promptly shanked her serve short of the net – and wide right. Ellie Gustafson then had the serve for Monticello, and senior hitter Hannah Clark spiked down the kill-shot to end it, sending the Ponies and their fans into a frenzy.
“All the fans that were here were cheering so loud – that was amazing,” Clark said.
Ellie Gustafson had 24 kills, while Clark finished with 14 kills, five blocks and three aces. Kelsy Grant dished out 39 assists and blocked three shots. Macey Grant tallied five kills and three aces, while Jaden Zuber had five aces and Katelyn Eyler three aces.
Sectional Final
Monticello 3, Hilbert 0
The Ponies had a day to prepare for Hilbert, plus a nearly 3-hour bus ride. The coaches opted to stop midway at a park to break up the drive, then took a subpar greeting upon arrival and turned it into motivation, en route to beating the Wolves convincingly, 25-18, 25-23, 25-13.
It was the second season-ending loss of the day for the hometown Hilbert Wolves, as the football team saw its playoff run end to Black Hawk-Warren just hours earlier.
On the volleyball court, the two teams spent much of the first set poking and prodding to find the gaps and rotations. A 9-3 run by Monticello was enough for Hilbert coach Kirsten Remington to call a timeout. The pause didn’t stop the momentum, however, as the Ponies found themselves ahead 22-14 just a few minutes later, all but sealing the set.
“We knew they weren’t going to give up, and we knew that we had to keep playing hard,” Clark said. “That’s something that this team is good at – we keep our emotions steady in close games like that.”
Game 2 was much of the same, with the two teams staying within three points much of the way. Hilbert led 13-11 after three straight unforced errors by the Ponies, but the match was tied back up in short order thanks to a kill at the net by Zuber, an ace from Clark and a back row kill from Ellie Gustafson. Hilbert’s last real run of the night came after falling behind 18-17 in the second set, as the Wolves bounced back to score four straight and briefly hold a 21-18 lead.
Rebecca Gustafson called a timeout, and her daughter responded with haste once the action restarted. Ellie Gustafson scored on a tip kill to get the side-out, then aced three straight serves. A spike by Hilbert that went long was ruled a tipped ball for the side-out, and Monticello failed to return the next volley, making it 23-22 Hilbert. On the ensuing volley, Clark found herself in prime position to run up full sprint to thrown down hammer at the net – only to pull up and tip the ball over, sending the Wolves tumbling on top of one other without digging the ball.
“I think our team just kind of realized they were coming back and we had to start fighting,” Ellie Gustafson said.
That tied it at 23 again. On the next volley, a heavy Hilbert spike was ruled to fly deep and out of the zone, despite the Wolves pleading that it was tipped by the Ponies. Macey Grant aced the next serve to close it out for Monticello.
The Ponies then jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the third set, and balloon of optimism for the host crowd deflated in near-record speed, as Monticello closed it on a 15-7 run. Clark scored on a tip for the final point, again sending her teammates and fans into pandemonium, while the Wolves huddled to wipe away their tears.
“I cannot believe we won that in three. Those girls are so smart, and they see the floor so well and made such good decisions – and then they have the poise and control to implement what they are thinking and seeing because they are just talented and smart. They just amaze me,” Rebecca Gustafson said.
Ellie Gustafson had 19 kills, four aces and two blocks in the win. Clark had 11 kills, eight digs and four blocks. Kelsy Grant dished out 33 assists, Macey Grant scored four aces and Katelyn Eyler blocked two balls.
What’s next?
Monticello (24-1) will face Wabeno-Laona (38-7) at 9 a.m. Nov. 5 at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
The Rebels finished second in the Northern Lakes Conference (10-2), with Three Lakes the league champion. Wabeno-Laona have a small roster with just 10 players – six of which are seniors. The Rebels are led by the Krawze’s, a trio of sisters in grades 10, 11 and 12.
Elizabeth Krawze, a senior, is the team captain and leads the Rebels with 555 kills this season (5.1 per set) to go along with 56 aces, 149 digs and 31 blocks. She has committed just 11 service errors this season. Junior setter Grace Krawze has 992 assists this year, plus 133 digs and 49 aces. Malerie Krawze, a sophomore, leads the team with 68 aces, and has 133 kills to her name.
Ellie Gustafson has 355 kills (5.4 per set) with 58 aces and 182 digs. Clark has 113 kills, 33 blocks and 130 digs. Kelsy Grant, a freshman setter, has 358 assists and 41 aces. As a team, the Ponies have lost just eight sets all year, with just three coming in 14 wins (45 sets) since the lone loss to Reedsburg.
“It’s about the journey at this point,” Rebecca Gustafson said. “The girls have played so well and I am so proud of them. They play with so much heart.”
