MONTICELLO — River Ridge defeated Black Hawk in the Gold Division final, 25-20, 25-20 to win the Monticello Invitational.
Both teams went 5-1 in the Pool A group and advanced to the Gold Division tournament bracket. Black Hawk beat Darlington, which went 5-1 in Pool B, in three sets 19-25, 25-21, 15-11. River Ridge defeated Monticello, which also went 5-1 in pool play, to reach the final.
Bailey Butler had 49 kills and 15 digs for Black Hawk in the tournament, with sister Hannah Butler spiking another 39 with 10 blocks. Kaylee Marty and Savanna Burmeister each had four aces for the Warriors, with Burmeister adding 44 assists.
Juda won the consolation bracket, defeating Pecatonica in the semifinal and then Belmont in the finals 25-20, 25-22. The Panthers had 60 digs in the match, with Karlee Kesler recording 20. Trailing 13-8 in the second set, Maddie Smith served 11 straight points for Juda with two aces to give her team a commanding 19-13 lead.
Belmont defeated Albany in the other semifinal.
Juda lost Montana Steinmann with a tweaked knee injury in the second game of pool play, and it took the Panthers a little while to get into a rhythm with one of their leaders absent.
“We got our ‘dig everything’ attitude back and got our motor running higher,” Juda coach Scott Anderson said about the 25-17, 25-20 win over Pecatonica.
Taylor Gollackson had 16 kills, 34 digs and nine assists in the tournament and Kesler had 15 assists and 48 digs to lead Juda. Triniti Elmer had 30 digs and 10 aces.
Albany went 0-8 in set play on the day. The Comets were led by Libby Beck, who had five kills, five aces, 17 blocks and 18 digs. Mady Conway had 16 digs and Payton Zurfluh added 13 assists.
Brodhead takes 6th of 28 at Janesville Invite
JANESVILLE — The Cardinals followed the lead of all-tournament player Abby Johnson, finishing 8-3 in the Janesville Invite that spanned Aug. 24-25.
Brodhead defeated Edgerton in the first match 2-1, and then blanked Portage 2-0. The Cardinals capped the Aug. 24 slate with a 2-0 win over Delavan, a 2-1 win over Baraboo, a 2-0 win over Janesville Parker and a 2-0 loss to Madison Memorial.
On Saturday, Brodhead lost to Markesan 2-0 before coming back to beat Big Foot 2-1 and Memorial 2-1. The Cardinals then beat Tomah 2-1 before losing to Memorial one final time 3-1.
Johnson finished the tournament with 89 digs, 140 aces, four blocks, 78 kills and nine aces with a serve rate of 87.2 percent. Catherine Speckman had 60 digs, Alexis Oliver had 62 kills, Katie Goecks had 59 kills and as a team Brodhead had an 89.3 percent service rate with 49 aces.
Juda sweeps Madison Abundant Life Quad
MADISON — Juda swept all three teams it faced at the Madison Abundant Life Quad Aug. 23 in the season-opening kickoff.
The Panthers defeated Madison Country Day 25-17, 25-14; then topped Abundant Life 27-25, 25-18 before downing Albany 25-13, 26-24, 15-12.
Albany meanwhile defeated Country Day 25-21, 25-21, 15-12 and lost to Abundant Life 25-17, 25-15, 15-8.
In Juda’s win over Country Day, Karlee Kesler was 16 of 16 serving and Triniti Elmer had eight aces for the Panthers. Montana Steinmann had seven assists and Hannah Powers had four kills.
Against Abundant Life, Elmer had 18 of her squad’s 52 digs and three aces. Taylor Golackson had five kills and Steinmann dished out seven assists.
Steinmann again led her team in assists against Albany with seven to go with four aces and five digs. Kesler had five digs and Golackson added five kills.
Libby Beck and Jada Flannery of Albany had 14 total kills each on the day. Beck also led her team in aces (6) and digs (12). Mady Conway had 11 digs for Albany and Payton Zurfluh dished out 22 assists.
