By Reagan Hoverman

For Spring Valley volleyball head coach Kelli Schlegel, the Tuesday night victory over perennial pow- erhouse olfax felt like fi nally getting over the hump.

That matchup between Spring Valley and Colfax, which both entered with undefeated 3-0 records in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play, proved that the Cardinals are truly chasing a conference championship for the first time in more than a decade.

The Spring Valley Cardinals played four tough sets against olfax before final ly defeating the Vikings on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Coach Schlegel spoke about defeating a team that has won eight of the last nine conference championships.

“We haven’t beat Colfax in a couple of years, so this feels good,” Schlegel said after the match. “They’ve been conference champs several years in a row.”

Spring Valley got out to a great start by winning the right to serve and then scor-opening set, which caused ing the first six points of the a timeout by Colfax head coach Kari Sedivy. The timeout worked wonders, as the Vikings scored the next eight points which forced a Spring Valley timeout.

The two rosters battled throughout the middling portion of the set, which included multiple ties including 8-8 and 11-11 before Spring Valley rallied to take a 19-14 lead. Senior setter Phoebe Vodnik gracefully or- chestrated the Cardinals' ouense which even tually secured a 25-22 victory. Spring Valley took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Colfax responded with an excellent second set, which at one point included a 6-2 lead early in the match. Spring Valley responded, again with Vodnik running the ouense and distributing balls to talented outside hitters.

Spring Valley and Colfax traded leads in the middle and late portions of the set before Colfax finally pulled away and secured the 25-16 win in the second set. That victory knotted up the series 1-1 heading to the third set.

That third set made it apparent that Spring Valley and Colfax are fairly evenly-matched rosters this year. After splitting the first two, the third set was another close match that saw Spring Valley get out to a 10-7 lead.

Colfax began going on small scoring runs, but Spring Valley always responded with a run of its own. When the Spring Valley lead had been cut to one point, 14-13, the Cardinals kicked it into a higher gear and scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 22-15 lead which eventually culminated in a 25-17 third-set victory.

The aforementioned Vodnik continued an already excellent night deep into that third set. She was instructing players where to go, making diving digs and making sure that the Spring Valley ouense was running smooth ly. Schlegel spoke about Vodnik’s leadership style and competitive style.

"She's a leader and a fierce competitor; she wants to win at any cost,” Schlegel said. “She knows how to get the girls without knocking them down. She’s a very positive leader.”

Spring Valley went on to win the third set 25-21, which secured the 3-1 series victory against Colfax. Schlegel spoke about overcoming adversity in those sets and playing against a Colfax team that wasn’t going to make it easy.

“They have some really strong hitters. When two strong hitters keep the team alive like that, our goal is to shut those two down and try to tame them,” Schlegel said. “Tonight is getting over that hump. We’ve lost six sets by two points, so finishing close sets has been a goal of ours. I'm glad it finally happened.”

While Vodnik’s excellence was apparent throughout the night, junior middle hitter Charli Vanasse controlled the game at the net and took advantage of her teammates setting the pins by racking up the kills.

In past years, Vanasse was limited to frontline rotations, but as she’s grown and developed as a player, she’s become a valuable six-rotation player for the Cardinals. Schlegel spoke about what Vanasse brings to the floor.

“She’s such a calm athlete. She doesn’t get overly excited and she doesn’t get overly depressed – she just plays,” Schlegel said. “She has a new role this year playing the back row and she’s really stepped up and owned that spot. Having her presence on the floor six ro –

tations definitely helps." The win against Colfax improved Spring Valley’s overall record to 14-5 for the season and 3-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference action. Spring Valley joins Elmwood/Plum City and Elk Mound as the only three DSC teams with undefeated records in conference play.

Schlegel spoke about the feeling of getting that win and remaining undefeated, especially for a team that has come so far. When this group of juniors was freshmen, they won only two games at the varsity level. Now, they’re in a tight race for that conference title.

“It feels great (to be at the top). We have a lot of very deserving girls,” Schlegel said. “They’ve played a couple of years and these juniors, when they were freshman, we won two games. Coming from that and the learning and the pushing, it’s fun to see them on top.”

Spring Valley plays on the road against Elk Mound on Thursday, Oct. 6, in a game that could completely change the conference championship race. Spring Valley hosts Durand the following Tuesday and then on Thursday, Oct. 13, the Cardinals host Elm- wood/Plum City in the regular season finale. All contests are slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Spring Valley senior setter Phoebe Vodnik (#4) sets a ball to freshman outside hitter Ella Stangl during the Cardinals’ home victory against Colfax on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Vodnik accounts for more than 95% of Spring Valley’s assists as a team. She controls the entire offense. Photo by Reagan Hoverman