BLANCHARDVILLE — Even though they had the higher seed, it took the No. 5 Vikings all five sets to defeat the No. 12 Chieftains in a WIAA Division 4 regional on Tuesday, Oct. 17. 

“We struggled coming out of the gates but turned it on in set two and battled our way to a victory in five,” Pecatonica head coach Liz McGowan said.

The woes began early for Pecatonica, as the team dropped the first eight points to Potosi. Chieftain Wynne Siegert began with an ace that libero Alyssa Cassidy couldn’t handle. Middle hitter Madelyn Cleary made an attack error, and on the next point, the Vikings were called for being in the net. 

After a Chieftain block, McGowan called a timeout with her team trailing 6-0. Out of the break, Siegert extended Potosi’s lead to 8-0 with a push to the back court and another ace.

Pecatonica got on the board, though, with an error on Lillie Cooley. The fault was enough for the Vikings to find their footing, as they clawed their way back into the set. Freshman Aleah Harris tallied a kill, putting Bri Peterson to the service line for an ace. 

The Vikings then went on a five-point rally, sparked by Loretta Tisch’s first kill of the match. Mikaela Gross followed with her own kill, and Diana Hendrickson’s attack ricocheted off Potosi’s blockers and out. Loretta Tisch capped the run with an untouched ace, forcing Potosi’s first timeout. The Vikings had whittled the Chieftains’ lead down to 15-10. 

The break proved fruitful for Potosi, who went on a 6-2 run. The Chieftains killed Viking rallies with two blocks, but the final dagger was a kill from Cassie Cooley. McGowan called her second timeout of the set — Pecatonica trailing 21-12 — but her team couldn’t rebound. 

Two missed passes and a net violation forced set point. Loretta Tisch held the Chieftains off with a kill, but on set point two, Madi Weber hit it home for a 25-14 win.

The Vikings got off to a better start in the second set, winning the first point on a kill from Anna Tisch. Although Potosi tied the set at one and two, Pecatonica pulled away with kills from Hendrickson. The Vikings appeared to take a 6-3 with an ace from Anna Tisch, but the point was replayed. 

The replay favored Potosi, who won the point on a kill from Weber. The Chieftains tied the set once again at five with a Viking attack error, but Potosi gave those points back — and more.

Cassie Cooley committed back-to-back errors and Siegert was called for being in the net. With the momentum shifting to favor Pecatonica, Potosi head coach Tammy Cooley called her first timeout. The regroup worked all but briefly.

Potosi won the next two points at the service line but committed a string of errors. Cassie Cooley’s error sent Gross to the line, where she set the tone for the next five points for a 14-7 lead. Pecatonica extended that lead to 21-12 — its largest of the set — with a kill from Loretta Tisch.

Although Potosi responded with a 7-1 run, coach Cooley called a timeout after Tatum Kurschner’s kill put Pecatonica within two points of a set victory. Unfazed by the pause, Cleary and Kurschner put the set away with back-to-back kills, as the Vikings tied the match up with a 25-19 set two victory.

The all-important third set began with four ties and four lead changes that ultimately favored Potosi. Lillie Cooley blocked Cleary’s attack and went back to the service line for an ace. After a double called on Pecatonica, Lillie Cooley served up another ace that landed, untouched, in the back court.

The Chieftains extended their lead to 16-12, forcing McGowan to call timeout. Anna Tisch and Hendrickson kept the Vikings within four, and eventually, Hendrickson’s tip sparked a rally.

Potosi let the next ball drop between two hitters who were unable to communicate with each other. Following Weber’s attack error, coach Cooley called a timeout with her team’s lead diminished to 20-18.

Pecatonica’s rally continued, though, with Anna Tisch at the service line. Alayna Kerkhoff dug out Anna Tisch’s first serve, but it went straight into the ceiling, as the Chieftains were unable to return the ball. To tie the set at 20, Anna Tisch targeted Siegert for another ace. 

Weber gave Potosi a lead again, but Loretta Tisch attacked from the back row to tie the set at 21. Peterson then gave Pecatonica its first lead since 4-3 with an ace, forcing a Chieftain timeout. The pause killed the Vikings’ momentum, as they committed three errors. With a kill from Lillie Cooley, Potosi staved off Pecatonica’s comeback 25-22. 

Down to their last hope, the Vikings came out in set four firing. Loretta Tisch opened with an ace followed by a kill from her sister Anna Tisch. Pecatonica extended its lead to 6-2 with two kills from Cleary that ricocheted off Potosi blockers and one from Hendrickson.

Despite Potosi’s best efforts and two timeouts to stall Pecatonica’s momentum, the Vikings used three- and four-point rallies to steadily pull away. Coach Cooley’s second timeout came with her team trailing 22-13. The final three points for Pecatonica came from Loretta Tisch and Gross. The 25-17 set victory forced a fifth set.

“Going on service runs in sets three, four and five were huge for us,” McGowan said. “When setter Anna Tisch was mixing it up at the net, we were most successful and able to work their defense down.”

In the winner-take-all, first-to-15 set five, Pecatonica had a goal in mind: break the set down into five-point games and win each.

“Going into set five we set the goal of first to 5, 10, and 15,” McGowan said. “We stayed focused and channeled our energy in hitting each of those marks.”

The Vikings reached five points after breaking an early tie. Kurschner snuck a tip over on the second ball, and Hendrickson followed with back-to-back kills.

Although Potosi came back to tie the set at five, seven, eight and nine, Loretta Tisch’s kill notched the tenth point for Pecatonica. The Vikings rolled to score four straight points to take the set 15-11 and game 3-2. Gross tallied an ace, Loretta Tisch and Cleary came up clutch with a double block and Loretta Tisch closed the night on a roll shot.

Loretta Tisch finished with five aces, 12 kills, seven kills and one block. Cleary and Hendrickson also finished with double-digit kills, recording 13 and 12, respectively. Anna Tisch assisted in 30 of those kills, while Kurschner tallied 10 assists. Anna Tisch and Peterson kept rallies alive in the back row with nine and eight digs, respectively.  

With the win, No. 5 Pecatonica (14-9, 10-2 Six Rivers East) advances to a WIAA regional semifinal against No. 4 Shullsburg (22-4, 10-2 Six Rivers West). The Miners advanced with a sweep of Black Hawk. As conference crossover opponents, the two teams have many shared foes. The most telling results are those against Potosi and Southwestern. Both teams recently beat the Chieftains in five sets but fell to Southwestern in tournaments 2-1.