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The hard fact about the post season is that many good teams see their season ended earlier than they would have liked.
The end of the road for the Dodgeville girls volleyball team came Saturday when West Salem came to town and left with a sweep.
The Pirates, second to Westby in the Coulee Conference, beat the SWC co-champs 25-13, 25-23, 25-23. The Pirates were a little quicker, hit the ball a little harder and survived some big Dodger runs to gain the Division 2 Regional title.
Jaden Hammes, a senior outside hitter, was a huge problem for the Dodgers as she put down 20 kills. Sophomore Mackena Ihle added seven as did senior Kendall Burkhamer
Hammes also did some key serving for the Pirates as she recorded five aces.
West Salem started to pull away early in the first set, first with a 13-7 run to lead 19-10. A 6-3 run ended it.
Hammes had seven kills in the opening set.
In the second set the Dodgers had a 20-18 lead before the Pirates made their move. They trailed 23-22 but outscored the hosts 3-0 the rest of the way.
In the third set the Dodgers led 19-10 before West Salem pulled away...for awhile. The Dodgers got within two at 24-22 but the Pirates picked up a kill to take the /regional crown.
MATCH STATS
Dodgeville
Kills-Lily Weigel 7, Rylee Forsyth 6
Blocks-Weigel 3, Marley Busch 2
Aces-Ava Garthwaite 4, Weigel 1
Assists-Marley Busch 9
Digs-Olivia Forsyth 27, Rylee forsyth 14
West Salem
Kills-Jaden Hammes 20
Mackena Ihle 7
Kendall Burkhamer 7
Aces-Hammes 5, Burkhamer 2
Assists-Gen Norman 26