By Natalie Dillon

ndillon@

themonroetimes.com

BARNEVELD — The Six Rivers Conference held its annual volleyball Senior Showdown Friday, July 12, where the West rallied to win four straight sets. The event also raised $1,028 For the American Family Children’s Hospital.

Set 1: East 26, West 24

The East came out cold in the first set, dropping four straight points on attack errors. Eventually, they knotted the score at 6 with a four-point rally, sparked by a kill from Barneveld’s Ambrea Hanson. 

Attack errors and a block from Shullsburg’s Elsie Ennis gave the West a 12-10 lead, but the East rallied once again. Barneveld’s Taylee Thousand registered a kill, and Potosi’s Wynne Siegert was called for a double to even the set at 12. Thousand kept the next point alive with a critical dig, resulting in the East’s first lead. They extended it to 16-13 on a service ace from Pecatonica’s Anna Tisch before the West called its first timeout. 

The pause proved beneficial for the West, going on a 9-3 run. Three of their points came at the service line with aces from Highland’s Bronwyn Halverson, Belmont’s Lainey Riechers and Siegert.

Trailing 22-19 and needing a side out, the East called its first timeout. Out of the break, Barneveld’s Anessa Schmitz provided the spark with a kill and ace to even the score at 22. Hanson’s serve went long, but the East earned that point right back with a double block from Tish and Schmitz. The teams traded two more points before the East closed out the set with a tip and free-ball error on the West.

Set 2: West 25, East 18

The West jumped out to an early 4-0 lead again, thanks to back-to-back aces from Siegert. Tisch fed Hanson for two straight kills to make it 8-5 before the West went on an 11-2 run. 

The East didn’t go down quietly, as Schmitz sparked a 9-1 late-set rally. Her attack snuck through the block, putting her at the service line. After a West attack error and cross-court kill from Hanson, Schmitz served up an ace to make it 22-13. Pecatonica’s Maddie Hirsch capped the run with a kill off the West block. 

The East scored just two more points — one on a kill from Albany’s Alana Durtschi — before dropping the second set on a miscommunication.

Set 3: West 25, East 17

Although the East snagged an early 2-1 lead, an attack error on Tisch sparked a five-point run for the West. In that span, there was only one offensive point earned — a kill from Belmont’s Reese Runde — the rest were East errors.

Trailing 6-2, the East went on an 8-4 run to knot the set at 10. They capitalized on West errors and received an ace from Barneveld’s Brynn Ploessl. Albany’s Myah Johnson then fed Thousand, followed by a kill from Tisch on the left side to close within one. Tisch then tied the set on an ace, where no one on the West side talked on the receive.

That’s the closest the East got the rest of the set, as the West pulled away with a seven-point run. In that span, Runde tallied three aces — one in front of the second row, one that just nicked the back line, and one hard right at Ploessl.

Hirsch and Hanson recorded the only other offensive points for the East in the third set, as the team fell 25-17.

Set 4: West 25, East 16

Unlike the previous three sets, the East scored first in the fourth set. Tisch tallied a kill from the left side, and the West was called in the net on a tight set. 

River Ridge’s Shayna Graf sparked a six-point run, though, with a tip. The West attacked the East’s weak spots, hitting off blockers and finding holes on the court during the serve.

The East battled back to get within two at 14-12. Black Hawk’s Allyse Troemel won a battle at the net with Graf, and Hirsch recorded back-to-back hits from both sides of the floor. Tisch capped the small rally with an ace. 

Graf turned the tides again with a kill from the middle. From that point on, the West outscored the East 11-4 to take the fourth set.

Set 5: West 15, East 11

In the first-to-15 fifth set, Argyle’s Alexis Rosenstiel tied it up early on with a perfectly placed kill on the back left corner. She then went to the line, where she served it into the net.

The West pulled away with a 9-1 run, highlighted by an ace from Highland’s Lillyana Michek. A four-hit violation stalled the run, giving the East breathing room.

Johnson fed Rufer for a kill and went back to the line to serve up an ace. After a pair of service errors, Johnson fed Rosenstiel for a kill to make it a 12-7 game. With Rufer serving, the East scored five straight points on West errors. 

The game and set ended, though, on back-to-back aces from Potosi’s Cassie Cooley.