November 8, 2021 at 11:19 a.m.
Highland two matches away from state, face Potosi
The Cardinals will host Potosi tonight in the Sectional semi-finals with the championship and a trip to state at the Resch Center in Green Bay Whoever earns that trip will do so in the Highland gym Saturday. Two #1 seeds, Bangor and Wonewoc Center, are vieing for the berth in the finals.
The Cardinals had a bye due to their #1 seed and waited to find out the results of the Pecatonica vs Seneca match to see who they would host Thursday. That opponent turned out to be Pecatonica.
And the Vikings came into the house of the Cardinals ready to play. They proved that by taking the first two sets and pushing the Cardinals to all five.
The Vikings were tough at the net, hit their serves and set up their hitters which led to wins in the first two sets by the same score of 25-23.
Highland scraped out a 25-22 win in the third game which had the Vikings having several leads. They added a 25-19 win in set four and the Cardinals ended it with a 15-13 finale.
"Pecatonica came to play, that's for sure," said Highland coach Maria Wineski. "They made us work for it."
A pair of Cardinals had double figure kills as Katelyn Mueller got 11 an Meg Tarrell added 10. Rachel Miller was close with nine.
The Cardinals also had 13 aces, six from Tarrell, three from Grace Dreischmeier, two from Bronwyn Halverson and one each by Miller and Ella Cody.
Halverson got a chance when Wineski inserted her late in the match. She contributed two aces, an assist and three digs.
"She did a good job for us," Wineski said. "She also had a couple nice plays."
For the Cardinals:
-Miller had nine kills, 17 assists, an ace and eight digs
-Tarrell had 10 kills, 11 assists, six ces and 19 digs
-Mueller had 11 kills, four blocks, an ace and 11 digs
-Katelyn Esser had four kills and seven blocks
-Ella Cody had 24 digs, an ace and five assists
-Dreischmeier had three aces and 17 digs
-Halverson had two aces, an assist and three digs
Thursday put the Cardinals against another crossover Six Rivers opponent when they took the court against Barneveld.
The spirited match lasted three sets before the Cardinals could earn the Regional championship plaque and take their game to the Sectionals. When they do that tonight the team opposite them will be Potosi, the team they have beaten twice this season, the latest win coming a week ago which gave the Cardinals the Six Rivers West title. The match went all five sets and was on Potosi's home court.
The winner will return to Highland Saturday to see who will make the trip to the Resch Center for the Division 4 championship battle next week.
The Cardinals took down the Golden Eagles in a 3-0 sweep. They started with a 25-12 win in the first set that feature a 9-1 run to put Highland ahead 13-4. Miller had two kills, Mueller and Tarrell each had one with a block by Esser. A block by Miller went for match point.
The second set ended 25-19 in favor of the Cardinals. Miller hadthree kills, including one for the 25th point. Mueller had two kills and Miller added a block.
Miller ruled the final set with six kills with Tarrell and Mueller getting one each. Mueller ended the set with a kill for the 25th point and a 25-17 win.
