County teams secured seven playoff volleyball wins with three teams reaching the Regional Final, but River Falls was the lone Pierce County squad to push through to Sectionals.

River Falls

No. 6 River Falls swept both of its Regional matchups, beating No. 11 Onalaska at home Thursday (25-18, 25-19, 25-17) and New Richmond on the road (25-18, 25-20, 25-16).

“Honestly, it feels really good,” senior Brooke Dusek said after the Onalaska game. “Our blocking was super good. I feel like we were giving all-out effort.”

The team hit a bit of a rocky patch for their lofty standards in serve receive and blocking over the final few weeks of the season, but they worked hard to set things straight.
“It feels really good. I feel like this was kind of the start of the playoffs, builds momentum for the other games. Being in your home gym for the last time playing here, it’s really fun,” senior Amelie Pankonin said. “I feel like our passing has been struggling the past couple games, but today we just settled it in.”

River Falls Coach Sara Kealy always emphasizes the importance of a consistent serve receive, and the Wildcats were much improved in that department during Regionals.

“We’ve been working really hard on our serve receive and blocking, something that in that final conference match against Hudson wasn’t sharp the way it needed to be. I’m happy to see that they’re applying some of the corrections,” Kealy said.

Kealy was impressed with the way Onalaska played given they had a long road trip that included the team bus breaking down hours before the match, which ended up postponing the start time. Both Onalaska and New Richmond had portions of sets where they were threatening, which Kealy said is beneficial for the Wildcats moving forward. For example, during the second set against New Richmond, River Falls trailed 17-9, coming back to win 25-20.

“I was happy to see that my kids were able to stop their momentum and change the course of that set, because New Richmond was really on a roll, and a lot of it was because we didn’t show up with consistent energy at the start of the second set,” Kealy said.

As a top 10 ranked team in the State, Kealy said many other coaches reached out to question why the algorithm seeded River Falls as a No. 6 seed in just its own section. The system considers the out of state opponents as .500 level teams, and with the Wildcats consistently competing at high-level Minnesota tournaments, they feel their strength of schedule is not accurately portrayed. That led to playing on the road against New Richmond.

“We kind of took it as that’s not where we should be, but we have to obviously show up and prove that that was an error in the seeding process,” Kealy said. “We can’t just say it was an error in the seeding, we have to prove it was an error in the seeding.”

River Falls now takes on No. 2 Chippewa Falls in River Falls’ home gym Thursday. It is Kealy’s first time in 17 years as River Falls’ head coach as a host at Sectionals. She said they are thrilled to be playing at home, because they have made postseason trips to Chippewa Falls, and the crowd is tough to match.

River Falls beat Chippewa Falls 3-0 in September, but the opponents have come a long way since then. Kealy said the team features a great setter that keeps Chippewa Falls in plays constantly.
“We have such a long history with Chippewa Falls. They were the team that ended our six-year State run back in 2022. They’re really well-coached,” Kealy said. “[The coach] has had some kids that have graduated, and you think, okay maybe now they’re going to be a little down. From the start of the season when you see them to the end of the season, they’re an entirely different team.”

Elmwood/Plum City

No. 7 seed Elmwood/Plum City’s trip to the Regional Final started with a 3-1 win over No. 10 Loyal at home (26-24, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20). The Wolves were a bit shaky during the first two sets, needing a rally to steal the first one, but settled in nicely.

EPC finished 4-4 in conference play, but some members of the team felt they could have held an even better record, and they showed why in the postseason.

“I know we just started, and I know we definitely hoped to be better in our conference play and we didn’t end up where we started, but we’re starting fresh,” junior setter Polly Webb said. “We know we didn’t play our best tonight, but we still came out on top.”

“Energy is a big thing. Having our home student section,” senior Aurora Sampair said. “We need to have confidence in ourselves, sometimes we lack that a little bit.”

Webb recently eclipsed 2,000 assists, and with a crew of hitters that swing with huge amounts of force, the team has enjoyed the season.

“It helps a lot. She’s an amazing setter. She’s like the backbone of our offense,” senior Allison Sauve said. “The last couple sets we really brought it, and I think that made a huge difference.”

“It’s so fun. Having hitters that can make you feel successful when you’re running around everywhere, it’s really good,” Webb said.

The team went on to pick up a massive upset win on the road against No. 2 Independence/Gilmanton 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18). That win put the Wolves in the Regional Final against No. 3 Blair-Taylor, which the Wolves would lose in a five-set thriller (25-18, 25-18, 16-25, 19-25, 7-15).

EPC sends off seniors Sauve, Sampair, Abby Krings and Brittany Bechel.

Spring Valley

Spring Valley also made a run to the Regional Final. The No. 3 seeded Cardinals beat No. 6 Cadott at home in straight sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-22) after having a first-round bye. They then faced No. 2 McDonell Catholic, who would advance to Sectionals with a 3-0 win over the Cardinals (19-25, 15-25, 23-25).

The Cardinals had an exceptional season, finishing the conference slate with a perfect 8-0 record. The team is saying goodbye to four seniors: Wynni Vanasse, Madi Zimmerman, Shalikco Timm and Adelyn Kotten.

Prescott

Prescott came into the postseason as a No. 9 seed and hit the road to topple No. 8 Bloomer in four sets (25-19, 11-25, 25-20, 25-19). Then, Prescott had a date with No. 1 St. Croix Falls, a matchup they could not overcome, losing 3-0 (12-25, 10-25, 18-25).

“Prescott Volleyball saw a lot of growth this season. We still had a relatively young team, with four freshmen/sophomores earning significant playing time. We hope to continue to build momentum and maintain that in the program so young athletes are ready to step into varsity matches at some point in their careers and be confident in their abilities,” Prescott Coach Geoffrey Snyder said.

Prescott’s senior trio held it down for the Cardinals this season, and Snyder said their impacts will be missed.

“Our seniors, Grace Ptacek, Karlee Wall, and Delaney Nelson, were great role models, leading by showing everyone what it meant to be a competitor through their actions. They lead by actively following the game plan, hustling and making big defensive plays, and maintaining neutral body language in the face of adversity,” Snyder said.

Ellsworth

Ellsworth lost 3-0 to St. Croix Central on the road in the playoffs’ opening round. The Panthers had a solid conference season this year, and will say goodbye to seniors Reese Matzek, Morgan Hince, Alivia Maher and Ada Erlandson. Matzek and Erlandson each received all-conference honors.