NEW GLARUS - Facing the defending state champion is never easy, even at home.
The Glarner Knights showed promise in spurts, but fell to Wisconsin Heights, 25-14, 25-9, 25-17.
"Wisconsin Heights is a fun team to play," New Glarus head coach Elizabeth Rasmussen said. "They have an effect on other teams where you want to play them. (Our) girls feed off of their energy. We played a lot better and I think we'll go into the rest of the season."
The Vanguards, who won the WIAA Division 3 state title in 2008, took a little while to get loose coming off the bus. New Glarus opened the match by taking a 7-4 lead.
"It feels really good to get up like that because you know how good (Wisconsin Heights is)," Rasmussen said. "You want to get excited, but you don't want to go overboard. You just don't know how long it will last - though you do keep your hopes up."
Wisconsin Heights was kick-started by a huge spike from sophomore Fallon Voss, and went on an 8-1 run to take a 12-8 lead. From there, New Glarus couldn't overcome Wisconsin Height's heavy hitting and its own mistakes, scoring just six of the final 19 points.
The Vanguards continued rolling in the second set with a 6-1 run. The Knights closed the gap to 10-8 before Wisconsin Heights went on the biggest run of the evening, taking 15 of the final 16 points, including the last eight. Junior Alexa Barsness, Voss and Brooke Brunner were ferocious at the net for Wisconsin Heights, blocking many kill attempts.
"I just told our girls to realize that we are playing a team that went to state last year and we don't get many opportunities to do that," Rasmussen said.
Wisconsin Heights again jumped out to a 6-1 lead and led by as much as 12 points at 21-9. That's when New Glarus made its final run, scoring eight of the final 12 points, thanks in large part to a couple of tips over Vanguard blockers by Whitney Buesser.
"Whitney Buesser started to figure out that they weren't following the tips well," Rasmussen said. "We're fighting for every point out there. We set up scenarios in practice yesterday where the score was 19-23, 11-23, 1-23 - just to get that mental image of it is possible to win every point."
New Glarus had six blocks. Tanya Gruter had four kills, Alexa Secord had five digs and Lauren Narveson and Natalie Morgan finished with five and four assists, respectively.
Overall, Rasmussen was pleased with her team's effort, and said that a match like this gets them ready for the rest of the season.
"I wish we would have started with (Wisconsin Heights). It would have pumped us up that much more. We're excited for the next game," Rasmussen said.
The Glarner Knights showed promise in spurts, but fell to Wisconsin Heights, 25-14, 25-9, 25-17.
"Wisconsin Heights is a fun team to play," New Glarus head coach Elizabeth Rasmussen said. "They have an effect on other teams where you want to play them. (Our) girls feed off of their energy. We played a lot better and I think we'll go into the rest of the season."
The Vanguards, who won the WIAA Division 3 state title in 2008, took a little while to get loose coming off the bus. New Glarus opened the match by taking a 7-4 lead.
"It feels really good to get up like that because you know how good (Wisconsin Heights is)," Rasmussen said. "You want to get excited, but you don't want to go overboard. You just don't know how long it will last - though you do keep your hopes up."
Wisconsin Heights was kick-started by a huge spike from sophomore Fallon Voss, and went on an 8-1 run to take a 12-8 lead. From there, New Glarus couldn't overcome Wisconsin Height's heavy hitting and its own mistakes, scoring just six of the final 19 points.
The Vanguards continued rolling in the second set with a 6-1 run. The Knights closed the gap to 10-8 before Wisconsin Heights went on the biggest run of the evening, taking 15 of the final 16 points, including the last eight. Junior Alexa Barsness, Voss and Brooke Brunner were ferocious at the net for Wisconsin Heights, blocking many kill attempts.
"I just told our girls to realize that we are playing a team that went to state last year and we don't get many opportunities to do that," Rasmussen said.
Wisconsin Heights again jumped out to a 6-1 lead and led by as much as 12 points at 21-9. That's when New Glarus made its final run, scoring eight of the final 12 points, thanks in large part to a couple of tips over Vanguard blockers by Whitney Buesser.
"Whitney Buesser started to figure out that they weren't following the tips well," Rasmussen said. "We're fighting for every point out there. We set up scenarios in practice yesterday where the score was 19-23, 11-23, 1-23 - just to get that mental image of it is possible to win every point."
New Glarus had six blocks. Tanya Gruter had four kills, Alexa Secord had five digs and Lauren Narveson and Natalie Morgan finished with five and four assists, respectively.
Overall, Rasmussen was pleased with her team's effort, and said that a match like this gets them ready for the rest of the season.
"I wish we would have started with (Wisconsin Heights). It would have pumped us up that much more. We're excited for the next game," Rasmussen said.
