SOUTH WAYNE — The Orioles are without a senior, yet half of their lineup are three-year starters. With a slew of hitting talent and a knack for hustle, many in the Six Rivers East figured Argyle could play a dark horse in the race for a conference title.

However, the Orioles opened the season without its setter due to COVID-19 restrictions. Filling the pivotal role in the lineup has proven to be a problem, as Argyle opened the season just 1-3 and were swept Sept. 24 by Black Hawk, 25-14, 25-10, 25-20.

“We knew it was going to be tough — they are a good team,” Argyle coach Jen Green said. “We had to stay positive, find our confidence and do the best that we can.”

Two days after losing a stunning 5-set match to Pecatonica, the Orioles squared off against the two-time defending conference champion Warriors. The host team barely let visiting Argyle get off the bus before running up the score. The Orioles, which do not have enough players to field a junior varsity squad, fell victim to the serving prowess of Black Hawk senior Makayla Mau right off the bat. Mau’s knuckleball serves gave Argyle fits during an 11-point run, which included two aces.

“She does something special with that (serve),” Warriors coach Rachel Wolff said. “It’s working for her. We’re glad to have her working there at that second serving position.”

Black Hawk’s serving was on point in the match, missing just one serve in each of the first two sets.

“I always say the keys to the match — and the keys to the season — are serving and passing,” Wolff said. “I stick with that. If you can’t serve, and if you can’t pass, then you can’t play this game. Our serving was really helping us out, and our passing was much improved compared to the past two matches as well.”

The 14-1 start to open the first set proved to be too much for Argyle to overcome. While the Orioles were able to pull off a respectable 9-3 run during the set, the Warriors never lost focus.

“I told them we had to start playing. We had to want to get going a little bit more and have that confidence,” Green said.

In the second set, Argyle led 3-1 to open, but with Mau and Tara Wellnitz going back-to-back at the service line, the lead quickly vanished. Black Hawk outscored Argyle again 14-1 to go ahead 15-4, and then closed the set by scoring 10 of the next 15 points.

“I think we just kind of shut down too easy. That’s the mental side that we sort of struggle on right now. We have to figure out how to get ourselves out of that,” Green said.

The third set went a little differently, however. Black Hawk coach Rachel Wolff had slowly been mixing in players off of her bench throughout the night, but in the third set that came to a head. 

“They did a really nice job. I’m proud of them. I had some kids in there playing the back row and passing to target very nicely,” Wolff said.

While the Warriors again opened the set strong — taking an early 8-2 lead — the Orioles found a way to stay involved in the set. Many times, it was simply keeping the volley alive and waiting for the Warriors to make a rare mistake.

“They are right there, they really are. We couldn’t capture that momentum in the third set,” Wolff said of Argyle.

Argyle worked the score to as close as two points at 15-13, but Black Hawk was able to hold off just enough to seal the win — the fourth of the season for the Warriors.

“They were on their way. If they had a little bit more time, they could have easily picked us off. I really like the perseverance we have, but Argyle was right there. They are a good team and they are only going to get better the next time we see them,” Wolff said.

Bailey Butler led Black Hawk with 15 kills, while Wellnitz added two blocks. Mau had three aces, Erika Schultz six digs and Macie Stauffacher 17 assists.

Jenna Allison led Argyle with nine assists, while Tori Lantz had an ace and Breann Flannery finished with 13 digs. Leading the Orioles at the net was Maggie Godfrey, who tallied two blocks and nine kills. 

The match was the third in four days for Black Hawk. Wolff said it had been a long week, but the reality is that after just two weeks of games, the season is already nearly halfway over.

“We want to do the best that we can do with the season that we’ve got,” Wolff said. “Especially our seniors — they’ve made the comment more than once that they don’t know when it’s their last night to play. They could all be done tomorrow, so they have to make the most of it tonight. They are kind of doing that, and I’m pretty proud of them for understanding the big picture.”