DARLINGTON – Former Redbirds star Danielle (Ruf) Duerst takes over the program after a successful spell at Platteville, where her teams went 92-28 in three years.

In 2019, Darlington was 17-12 overall and finished 9-3 in the SWAL, good enough for second place. The Redbirds went on to lose to rival Cuba City in the regional semifinal.

Starters Lizzie Schwartz, Brenna McDonald and Alyssa Tuescher all graduated at the end of last school year, leaving half of the starting lineup open to competition.

Returning for the Redbirds are a group of four seniors and two juniors, all of which give the team plenty of experiences coming back. Sydney Beasley, Kaylyn McGuire, Laura Sturtz and Cori Golackson will play on the Darlington High School court for the final time this fall, while Taylor Wedig and Kaylee Schwartz are now juniors.

“Being my first year this year and only seeing them in open gyms this summer, I think that we will be strong at the net,” Duerst said. “We need to improve on reading the ball and anticipating where the ball is going. We are a second too late on passing, in both serve receive and defense. If we can get our feet set earlier and make our angle to the target our passing will improve tremendously.”

The SWAL has split up the season between the fall and alternate spring option, which was put in place by the WIAA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only four teams remain for the fall season: Darlington, Mineral Point, Iowa-Grant and Boscobel. That means each conference match is that much more meaningful in regards to winning a league title.

Iowa-Grant finished third in 2019, one full game behind Darlington. Mineral Point was under .500 in league play, and Boscobel went winless. Defending champion Cuba City will play in the spring, along with Riverdale, Fennimore and Southwestern – all of which finished last year at .500 or under.

“This season is going to be very different in many ways. My first goal will be to keep everyone healthy. Half of our conference will be playing in the spring. With that being said, I would love to see us winning the conference against the teams that will be playing in the fall,” Duerst said. “I think it will be solid competition during all the matches.”