SOUTH WAYNE — For the second year in a row, Black Hawk is the regional champion. The Warriors knocked off conference rivals Argyle and Monticello 3-1 in each match to advance to the sectional semifinal.

“The girls knew what they wanted to get accomplished, but I do think that there were some nerves,” Black Hawk coach Rachel Wolff said. “They know what is at stake and they respect Monticello completely, and I think that’s why the nerves came out a little bit.”

The three-time defending Six Rivers East champions have leaned on their senior leadership and big-game experience to pull them through adversity multiple times this year. Much of the team was a part of at least one of the past three basketball teams that reached the state since 2018.

“Once we are clicking, no one can get on top of us. We just keep pulling through and it’s just awesome,” senior hitter Makayla Mau said.

While the rest of the teams that opted to play volleyball this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic have seen a truncated season, the Warriors nearly lost their shot at a postseason. With just over two weeks to play, cases of the novel coronavirus spread through the school building and the volleyball team took a two-week hiatus in quarantine.

Coming back from that time off — not even being able to even practice — meant rust was going to be apparent. Black Hawk had scheduled matches against Argyle, Juda and Monticello over the course of three days, and was supposed to host a doubleheader against Albany on the fourth day, only for it to be scratched.

Oct. 22, Regional Semifinals 

Argyle at Black Hawk

After receiving a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Warriors hosted red-hot Argyle, which was a different team in the second half of the season with setter Megan Johnson back in the lineup. Black Hawk dominated the first two sets, only to lay off the gas and let the Orioles steal the third frame. The Warriors finished Argyle off in four sets, 25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18.

“We didn’t start out great, and that’s partially my fault,” Argyle coach Jen Green said. “Going into the night we knew it was going to be tough. We knew everyone had to play their position, play their role, and everybody had to be ‘on’ to make it work. All we can ask is go on the court and give it your all.”

The Warriors opened the match looking like they had missed no time at all — jumping out quickly to a 12-3 advantage and cruising the rest of the period. In the second, Argyle opened on a 5-1 run, only for senior hitter Bailey Butler to take over, scoring four key points — on a spike kill, a tip kill and two aces — during an 11-2 stretch that put Black Hawk ahead for good.

Argyle brought it as tight as 17-18, but Tara Wellnitz hammered a spike to the court and Black Hawk closed the set on a 7-1 run. 

The third frame was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than three points. Argyle’s Tori Lantz hammered down the final point of the frame to give the Orioles their lone set victory on the night.

“I’m very proud of the way they played,” Green said.

Black Hawk made sure the fourth period went differently. Butler and Makayla Mau scored six of the team’s first eight points to go up 8-3. Before the Warrior faithful in the crowd could catch their breath, Black Hawk was ahead 20-9.

“I’m so excited that we took a set, especially being down two,” junior libero Breann Flannery said. “We have an amazing team. I think if we really would have pulled our heads out of it, we could have definitely had Black Hawk.”

Oct. 22, Regional Semifinal

Monticello at Shullsburg

While Black Hawk was putting an emphatic win on Argyle, the Six Rivers East runner-up Monticello had its hands full at Six Rivers West champion Shullsburg. The Ponies lost the first two sets 23-25, 26-24 and faced the chance at a sweep.

“We told them that we were playing three more games. You can’t give up. You have to fight for every ball. You have to go out there and win,” Monticello coach Rebecca Gustafson said. “We always say to win the point, and then they did it.”

Instead of giving up, Monticello rallied and took the final three sets 25-22, 25-22, 15-6.

“The whole game was aggressive — for both sides. It was just a battle. It was probably the best volleyball I’ve seen us ever play, for sure,” coach Gustafson said.

In the conference-only slate for the regular season, the Ponies never got a chance to see the Miners on the court earlier this year. That meant a lack of familiarity with their opponent and making adjustments on the fly.

“They had a big blocker and we just told them to go around the block. The first couple of games we were kind of laying off, afraid of her and sailing stuff out of the box,” coach Gustafson said.

The third and fourth sets stayed within three points the entire time, and everyone at the game — or watching at home on Shullsburg’s YouTube stream, felt the fifth set would be much of the same. Instead, Monticello dominated the fifth set, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and pushing the advantage to 10-1 moments later.

Ellie Gustafson led the Ponies with 34 kills, 25 digs and five aces, while Hannah Clark had eight aces and five blocks. Alexa Siegenthaler dished out 26 assists, with Delenn Gillespie adding 17 herself. Macy Grant collected 28 digs.

Also in the regional semifinal round, Albany was swept by Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, 25-22, 25-21, 25-9 in Division 4, and Darlington swept Lancaster 25-10, 25-13, 25-23.

Oct. 24, Regional Final

Monticello at Black Hawk

Five days prior the top two teams in the conference met up for a five-set thriller in the same gym. In that match the Ponies won the first two sets, only for Black Hawk to storm back to win the final three.

This time it was the Warriors winning the opening set, followed by Monticello equalizing. But the third and fourth sets went to the home team, which rode its plethora of senior leaders to the 25-15, 20-25, 25-14, 25-14 victory.

“We did start strong, but then we did let down just a little bit. But, you know, I guess the outcome is what we wanted it to be,” Wolff said. “That’s just a really tough Monticello team.”

Monticello opened the night by taking an 8-6 advantage early on, only for Black Hawk to rattle off a 14-4 run of its own to go up by eight.

In the second set, both teams went back-and-forth much of the first half. Black Hawk briefly held an 11-13 advantage, but the Ponies sprang forward for six straight points, thanks in part to two aces from Katelyn Eyler. After the Warriors briefly score three points in a row, the Ponies closed the set on an 8-4 run.

“Miss Wolff knows that the second set doesn’t really work out with us, but she always tells us to just turn right back around and keep pounding it at them,” Mau said.

The pivotal frame would be the third. Players from both teams appeared to cede responsibilities to their star hitter — for Monticello, it was Ellie Gustafson, and for Black Hawk, it was Butler. The two went point-for-point for eight of the first nine serves, and the two teams were evened up at 8. That’s when the wheels fell off for the Ponies. 

A series of net violations failed returns allowed Black Hawk to run off a 10-2 run to take full advantage. Coach Gustafson called both of her timeouts during the stretch. The pause in action didn’t slow down the home team for the rest of the stretch. 

The fourth game was almost a duplicate, with the teams knotted up at six early on before the Warriors went on a 17-6 run to make it 23-12.

“It’s not how we wanted to play, and it’s not how I wanted to end this season,” said Siegenthaler’s Monticello’s only active senior. Alyssa Holcomb missed the season due to an injury, and Albany-transfer Megan Peters was ineligible for varsity action due to WIAA guidelines. “I have no doubts about the season, because we played so good. I thought it was a pretty fun season, too.”

In Division 3, Darlington lost to rival Mineral Point in four sets, 25-17, 16-25, 21-25, 13-25.

Up next: Oct. 29, Sectional Semifinal

La Farge-Youth Initiative at Black Hawk

The Warriors received the No. 2 spot in the re-seeded sectional bracket. Black Hawk will host La Farge-Youth Initiative on Oct. 29, with the winner getting either Potosi or Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran in the sectional final on Halloween. The winner will advance to the one-day state tournament, to be held Nov. 7 at either Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau West, Kaukauna or Little Chute.

“We need take care of business ourselves. Volleyball is a sport where with unforced errors, you are giving other teams points. If we can eliminate those unforced errors and work on us for the next few days, I think that we can be competitive with whoever they throw our way,” Wolff said.

Last year, Black Hawk lost to Burlington Catholic Central in the sectional semifinal — a program long a thorn in the side of the Warriors. This year, BCC is on the other side of the bracket, giving Black Hawk a new set of teams to potentially meet along the way.

La Farge, from western Wisconsin, had not won a playoff match prior to this season since 2006. In fact, La Farge was last at sectionals in 2002, and went to the state meet 20 years ago before any of its current players were born.

Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran has not yet reached the state tournament, but reached sectionals in 2018 and came up a game short last fall. Potosi, a Six Rivers West school, was last at sectionals in 2013 and has three state appearances in school history — 2001, 2002 and 2008, with the 2002 team winning the title.

For the postseason, Black Hawk was allowed to sell four tickets for fans per player. After playing much of the season with limited crowds in response to the pandemic, the added bodies — and noise — was a welcome change for everyone.

“It’s a lot nicer, because I like when our crowd is a lot louder. The crowd energizes us, and then we energize them,” Butler said.