BELLEVILLE — In the opening week of the alternative fall volleyball season, New Glarus and rival Belleville pushed themselves nearly as deep as possible. The Wildcats, hosting the game March 4 in their home gym in Dane County albeit without fans, held on to win in four sets, 25-21, 14-25, 28-26, 25-23.
“This is exciting. It’s my first win as a head coach here,” said Melinda Bigler, Belleville’s head coach. “We’ve been working on a lot of stuff as a team, and I felt like tonight we were just able to put it all together.”
Belleville jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first set, but the Glarner Knights never gave in and brought it all the way back to within a point at 19-18. The Wildcats then closed the frame on a 6-3 spurt, but the warning was clear: New Glarus was ready to fight for every point.
“To think that we’ve only had a week of practice (before this),” New Glarus coach Kayla Zimmerman said. “I think that everything we’re doing right now is still in the building stages. We’re still trying to find the right people in the right spots at the right time. So it’s still just coming together.”
In the second game, the teams again opened squared away at 4-4 before the Knights took off thanks to the serving arm of Alexah Mellenberger.
To think that we’ve only had a week of practice (before this). I think that everything we’re doing right now is still in the building stages. We’re still trying to find the right people in the right spots at the right time. So it’s still just coming together.New Glarus coach Kayla Zimmerman
Mellenberger had four aces in a row as the Knights went on an 11-2 run to take a dominating lead. It wasn’t the only time Mellenberger cast off a big run on the night, as she again had another three aces in a row in the third set. She finished with 9 aces on the night.
In that third game, Belleville jumped out to a 4-0 lead and later rattled off a 14-5 run to go up 20-11. Zimmerman called a timeout to give her troops a chance to breath and re-coordinate their attack strategy. The Knights listened and rattled off a 7-0 run that included Mellenberger’s trio of aces. A quick side-out by Belleville only delayed the New Glarus comeback, as the Knights wound up tying the score at 22, capping an 11-2 spurt. Both teams went back-and-forth with pivotal game-points.
The Knights were up 26-25, needing just one more point to go up 2-1 in the match. Instead, Alyssa Caskey tipped in a kill to tie it at 26, then the Knights returned a volley out of bounds. Callie Smith then blocked a kill attempt to seal the set.
“We’ve been focusing a lot this year on flexibility and our mental toughness,” Bigler said.
Another slow start by the Knights in the fourth set had the visitor behind 5-1 at the outset, only for the Knights to again slowly but surely tie it at 14 later on.
Back-and-forth side outs had the score even until 22-22. A quick three points from the Wildcats on a quick kill by Smith, an illegal hit from a New Glarus player and a failed return by the Knights made it 24-22 Belleville. Grace Nommensen then got a sideout with a kill for New Glarus, but on the game’s final point, a kill attempt rolled along the top of the net, only to fall safely to the court on New Glarus’s half, ending the match.
“Belleville always comes with a good team and were ready to play, but tonight, I think we made the errors that we beat ourselves with. We didn’t do anything that was not fixable, but I think we know we saw where our weaknesses are and we know exactly what we have to do to fix them,” Zimmerman said.
Nommensen led all hitters with 15 kills, while Mellenberger finished with 10. Mellenberger also led the Knights with 16 assists and 4 digs, while Nommensen finished with 14 assists. Kourtney Peterson had 2 digs and Amber Horn added an ace for New Glarus, while teammate Emma Marty had 6 blocks.
“Other than Alexa, our team, for the most part, is pretty young,” Zimmerman said. “We didn’t get a chance to get everybody in tonight, but I’ve got three freshmen I moved up. It helps having four returning starters, too.”
Smith and Ava Foley led Belleville with 12 kills each. Smith added 4 blocks and 2 aces, while Foley had 2 aces and 7 digs. Josey Latorre finished with 14 assists. Kenna Edge had 12 assists and Melanie Humke finished with 13 digs. Alyssa Caskey added 3 blocks.
This is exciting. It’s my first win as a head coach here. We’ve been working on a lot of stuff as a team, and I felt like tonight we were just able to put it all together.Melinda Bigler, Belleville’s head coach
Both teams are now 1-1 on the young season in Capitol Conference play.
“It’s very exciting and we hope in the next couple of weeks things are looking up,” Bigler said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has been aware of what’s going on with their season since August, and they know things aren’t out of the clear yet. Bigler’s motto for the team is to have the ability to “Pivot,” and March is not really any different than August or September.
“They’ve done a great job of pivoting with me and not letting it affect anything else. Finally, when that came and we saw those (Dane County) restrictions come out a week before, and we knew we’d get to play at home, the excitement and all that stuff just keeps getting better and better,” Bigler said. “So, we’re hoping to keep growing with those good chances and give whoever’s in our gym and wherever we go a good show.”
The next night, March 6, Belleville lost to Fennimore in another tight matchup, 26-28, 12-25, 22-25.
Foley led the way with 13 kills; Brooke Everson had 5 blocks; Kenna Edge and Madi Winterburn each had 2 aces; Humke had 13 digs; and Latorre finished with a team-high 10 assists.
