DARLINGTON — Darlington advanced out of the WIAA Division 3 Regional Quarterfinals following a straight set win over Poynette on Oct. 20. The victory also notches an impressive 11th-straight season where the Redbirds advance at least one round. In the next round, second-seeded Viroqua downed Darlington in four sets, ending their season.

“The 11 season streak of at least one post season win is a nice achievement, but for Darlington to become a volleyball town, we’re going to keep capitalizing on that and get past that regional week and into sectionals for the years to come,” said coach Pam Ritchie.

After scouting Poynette, Ritchie and her assistant coaches felt confident that they would be able to run with the lineup they had been using most of the season

“We tracked their hitting tendencies and found that we really had to be prepared for most of their balls to go to the middle of the court. We adjusted our defense slightly so that would be covered effectively,” she said.

She also talked about the team’s controllables — serving tough and playing consistently at their level.

“I felt the team did a great job responding to a little slower paced match up. I felt that we had stronger hitters than Poynette and I think we were able to use that advantage to take the win,” she said.

Darlington (17-20) set the tone from the start as it opened the match on a 13-6 run. The first frame concluded at 25-13 as Raynie Norgard hit a light attack just over the net, followed by a pair of Puma errors on an attack and a serve.

Things didn’t come as easily for the Redbirds in the second frame as they traded blows with Poynette (8-18) throughout the majority of the set. A lead of greater than four points for either side didn’t occur until Chesne Fink served an ace to the center of the Pumas’ court, just out of reach from any defender. The point put Darlington ahead, 23-18, but Poynette wasn’t done. The girls in orange and black earned a pair of consecutive kills to trim the Redbirds’ advantage to three points, followed immediately by a serve error from the traveling team as well as a kill by Camryn Andrews. The 25-20 set win was the only narrow split of the night, and Darlington was eager to put that style of winning behind it.

Cue the third set, where the Pumas bookended a Lilly Ritchie kill along the fans’ sideline with a pair of attacking errors. The early 3-0 advantage was quickly tied up by Poynette, before the Redbirds went on a 2-to-1 tear. Darlington complimented consistent Pumas’ errors with kills and aces. The usual suspects earned points, including Lilly Ritchie, Fink, and Chloe O’Brien thanks to kills and aces. O’Brien also teamed up with Andrews for a block over the sprint to the final whistle as the Redbirds cleared a 25-10 win in the third set.

Darlington was directly responsible for 55 of its 75 points on 30 team kills, 15 aces, and 10 blocks. The offense was led by Lilly Ritchie with 11 kills, as well as Fink and Andrews with 5-and-4 aces, respectively. Meanwhile, blocking saw a quartet of Redbirds tied with a pair, including Norgard, Andrews, Fink, and O’Brien. Norgard also saw a supporting leadership role thanks to 10 assists ahead of Fink and Ali Wineland with nine each, while Andrews paced digs with 13 ahead of Lilly Ritchie (10).

“The post game huddle conversation consisted of praising the team for taking care of business and prepping them for our match up against No. 2 Viroqua,” Coach Ritchie said.

The regional semifinal at Viroqua (30-5) didn’t yield the same results for the Redbirds as they fell in four sets, 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21.

“After scouting Viroqua, it was very clear that we would need our match up to bring our bigger sized blockers. Viroqua had a freshman outside hitter that had over 400 kills on the season — that alone was a clear sign that an adjustment was needed,” Coach Ritchie said. “Viroqua not only had some nice hitters, but they proved to be a scrappy defensive team and were able to make some great plays. I believe that we made some great hustle plays as well, but a few missed serves down the stretch and a bit of hesitation on some things changed the flow of the game for us in that fourth set.”

Lilly Ritchie earned a double-double in the loss with 11 kills and 21 assists. O’Brien co-paced the killing effort, while Andrews was atop the service duty with four aces. The defense saw Windland (11 digs) and Kylee Badtke (2 blocks) as leaders.

“I truly think that our squad showed some grit. Volleyball is a game of momentum with highs and lows and I feel that our season mirrored those highs and lows with really big, fun moments along with the tough moments of losing a close match,” Coach Ritchie said. “I am incredibly proud of them and I hope this match makes our returners eager to get back on the court.”

The loss sees the graduation of a trio of seniors in Norgard, Lilly Ritchie, and Alivia Crosby.

“As far as it comes to coaching my daughter, Lilly: There are so many emotions regarding our time together as mother/daughter-coach/player. It hasn’t always been easy, but gosh, what a blessing. She makes the game of volleyball seem effortless and her maturity and willingness to adjust to our team’s needs has been such a special thing,” Coach Ritchie said.

Headed into playoffs, they both knew each night stepping onto the floor could be Lilly’s last, and as a mom, Pam prepared myself to just be calm and to take it all in.

“Lilly did some special things during her career at Darlington and I consider myself so lucky to share our time as Redbirds together. I am very excited to see what she does as she prepares to play volleyball at the next level,” Coach Ritchie said.