from the Hip

The atmosphere was electric during the Prescott Cardinal volleyball team’s crucial three-game sweep over Baldwin-Woodville last Thursday. Strong net play along with tremendous service games from the likes of Katressa Syverson, the Ptacek sisters, and Kelsey Sterud helped the Cardinals avenge an earlier loss at the Baldwin-Woodville quadrangular tournament. Head Coach Tracey Budworth and the Cardinals followed up the big win with a strong second place finish in the Hudson Invitational on Saturday. Prescott defeated Somerset, North Branch, and Superior, but fell to Hudson in the title match. The Cardinals will host St. Croix Central this Thursday at 7 p.m. and will then travel to Abbotsford to compete in an invitational tournament.

According to the most recent Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association poll the Bloomer Blackhawks are the only team listed among the top teams in Division 2. Members of the Heart of the North Conference, the Blackhawks are listed as Honorable Mention. Whereas in Division 3, Unity, Grantsburg, La Crosse Aquinas, St. Croix Falls, and Westby are all listed among the top teams.

Speaking of rankings, the Prescott girls golf team continues their strangle hold on the #1 spot in Division 2. The two-time defending state champions won their last Middle Border Conference match by 23 strokes. Ava Salay took home top honors, finishing with an impressive one under par 35 with Rhi Stutz right behind finishing in second with a round of 36. The Cardinals will compete against conference teams this Thursday at Bristol Ridge in Somerset and will host the Middle Border Conference Tournament this Monday at Clifton Hollow. Two days later, the Cardinals will begin the defense of their state title with regional tournament play at Pheasant Hills Golf Course in Hammond.

Starting ouensive lineman Austin Fox and linebacker Jack Olson helped the UW-River Falls Falcons defeat Northwestern-St. Paul Eagles by a score of 63-27. The 17th ranked Falcons piled up over 600 yards of ouense enroute to the lopsided victory. Fox and Olson are 2021 and 2022 Prescott graduates. After a bye next weekend, the Falcons will open the conference season when they host UW-Stevens Point.

A small contingent of volunteers spent several hours Saturday starting the process of putting Fire Hall Field to bed for the season. Joining a handful of CAB Company volunteers, Prescott High School students Noah Miller, Bennett Matzek, and Cullen Huppert donated their time for the cause. A special thank you Chris Anfang of Asphalt Plus who donated his roller for CAB Company use on Saturday. Over the last several years Anfang has made the extremely important piece of equipment available to the CAB Company for field grooming. Fans were more than shocked to see Baldwin- Woodville upend Rice Lake in overtime last week. It makes the final four games of the season that much more interesting as teams not only vie for the top spot in the Middle Border Conference, but also begin to jockey for the fast-approaching state playous. The WIAA is considering using a competitive balance formula when determining what division schools will compete in in the WIAA tournament series. There will be more detailed information forthcoming regarding the complicated proposal. The majority of schools in the state have requested the WIAA consider changing the placements of private schools in the tournament series, claiming schools like Whitefish Bay Dominican, Eau Claire Regis, and La Crosse Aquinas should play up a division in the playous. Stay tuned. Several highly regarded retired and cur- rent game ovcials, athletic directors, and coaches around the state of Wisconsin believe the demise of WIAA high school sports is on the horizon. The primary culprit accord- ing to many is the influence of club sports on high school kids. “It is becoming more and more common for kids to play on club teams instead of the teams made up of their high school classmates,” said one area retired coach and educator. “It’s just so sad to see this happening and it’s only going to get worse.”

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR invites the public to get outdoors Saturday, Sept. 24 in honor of National Public Lands Day. Established in 1994, National Public Lands Day celebrates the connection between people and the environment while encouraging the use of public spaces for education, recreation and volunteering. Wisconsin is home to more than 6 million acres of public lands that ouer end less recreation opportunities. Residents and visitors alike enjoy Wisconsin’s state natural areas, wildlife areas, fisheries areas, 49 state parks, 15 state forests, 44 state trails and thousands of miles of freshwater.

Dozens of Prescott High School students hit the woods this past weekend as the Wisconsin deer bow season opened this past weekend. Plans are those who are successfully harvesting ‘s State Wildlife Animals (no, it is not the badger. The badger is the state animal, not the State Wildlife Animal) will get a mention in this column.

Headshaker of the week. A few Prescott fans who attended Friday’s game at St. Croix Central were not enamored with the public address announcer during the contest. One local said, “It reminded me of the commercial announcer for the Monster Truck rallies they used to have at the Metrodome.” An obnoxious over the top PA announcer in high school? It’s a headshaker.