BLANCHARDVILLE — With the Six Rivers East Conference title on the line, the Vikings came to play on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Pecatonica beat Barneveld in five sets, ruining the Eagles’ perfect conference season and handing them just their third overall loss.

Pecatonica’s victory came just over a week after losing to conference opponent Albany, whom the Vikings had swept in their first meeting. 

“I feel like one of our biggest setbacks this season was losing to Albany,” Pecatonica head coach Liz McGowan said. “But we couldn’t change what was done, so we’ve kept our goal of conference champs. We said we have to keep fighting for it and keep moving forward as a team, doing everything we can in our power to keep that goal alive.”

The road to accomplishing that goal got off to a slow start, though, as Barneveld jumped out to a 4-0 lead, aided by three aces from Kaylie Oimoen. Before the set got more out of hand, McGowan called a timeout.

“We’ve done a lot of mindset training this year,” McGowan said. “I told them we can either keep our chins down or pick ourselves up and go up from here. They came back out and, instead of digging a bigger hole, came back point-by-point and earned it.”

The rally started with a kill from Loretta Tisch, who went back to the service line for an ace. Down 7-5, the Vikings went on a 8-1 rally to take a convincing lead. An error on the Eagles knotted the set at seven all, while kills from Diana Hendrickson and Mikaela Gross gave Pecatonica the lead.

After an ace from Anna Tisch and another Eagle error, Barneveld head coach Martina Reuter called her first timeout with her team trailing 12-8. Although Barneveld won the first three points out of the break on kills from Oimoen and Ambrea Daisy Hanson, the Vikings outscored the Eagles down the stretch. 

In fact, Pecatonica ended the set on an 8-1 run, briefly interrupted by Barneveld’s second timeout. Loretta Tisch sparked the rally with a kill and went to the service line for an ace. Madelyn Cleary then scored three straight points on a block and two kills. Hendrickson registered another kill, and on set point, Barneveld was unable to send a return over in three hits. Pecatonica took the first set 25-16.

The Vikings kept rolling in set two, jumping out to an 8-3 lead with a pair of four-point runs. Anna Tish and Cleary found holes in the defense with a tip and push. In the second rally, Gross smashed a kill on an overpass.

Down the stretch, Pecatonica won two points to every one of Barneveld’s, resulting in a 17-9 lead. Cleary’s kills with a quick set from Anna Tisch forced the first Eagle timeout. While Barneveld closed in, 21-16, kills from Anna Tisch, Gross and Hendrickson resulted in set point. Following a kill from Oimoen, the Eagles served into the net, handing the Vikings set two 25-17.

Up two sets against the No. 6 team in Division 4, the Vikings let nerves creep in, knowing they were just one set away from the biggest win of their season.

“We were really excited and a bit nervous,” sophomore floor leader Loretta Tisch said. “But we wanted to finish it off.”

The two teams tied the third set six times with three different lead changes until a net violation on Barneveld sparked a five-point rally for Pecatonica. Cleary scored back-to-back points in the stretch, giving the Vikings a 14-11 lead. 

Barneveld regrouped during a timeout and came back to tie the set four more times before taking a definitive lead, 22-21, on an ace from Anessa Schmitz. A poor set from Pecatonica resulted in another point for Barneveld and a subsequent timeout. Although Maddie Hirsch blocked an attack out of the break, the Eagles took the third set, 25-23, with kills from Schmitz and Taylee Thousand. 

While the fourth set began like the third — with six ties — an attack error on the Vikings gave the Eagles the lead for good at 7-6. Barneveld closed out the set 25-17 with three straight points.

“In sets three and four, we weren’t going on the runs that we did in sets one and two,” McGowan said. “We could not find a service run, and that was our killer.”

In the winner-take-all, first-to-15 set five, the two teams traded points left and right. Barneveld took a slim 8-6 lead on an attack error, but Pecatonica battled back with two straight aces from Loretta Tisch. 

The two teams tied the set another three times, even as late as 13 all. The Eagles called a timeout, but dropped the next point on an attack error. In the next rally, Hendrickson’s tip glanced off the block and went backward on the pass, as Barneveld was unable to return the ball in three hits. 

Pecatonica’s rotation, waiting anxiously at the net, erupted in cheers as the third hit didn’t come over the net. The bench joined the huddle, as the student section crowded the floor.

Loretta Tisch led the team with four aces and 23 digs. She also registered nine kills.

“You normally see someone with that ability wearing a libero jersey, but she can do it all around,” McGowan said. “We can’t harness her and keep her in the back row because she can bring that same kind of energy in the front row.”

Cleary also recorded four aces and paced the team with 15 kills. Hendrickson chipped in another 10 successful attacks. Anna Tisch distributed the offense with 34 assists and also dug out 14 balls. At the net, Cleary tallied three kills and Hirsch two.

With the win, Pecatonica (8-2) keeps its conference championship hopes alive. The Vikings need to defeat Monticello (4-6) and Juda (0-9) and hope that Argyle (4-5) or Black Hawk (3-6) can beat Barneveld (9-1) for a chance at the title.

“It’s huge,” Loretta Tisch said of the win. “And it will lead our team to bigger things.”