Forty of western Wisconsin’s best volleyball teams flooded the UW-Stout campus for another year of the always exciting Menomonie Sprawl. River Falls was an unstoppable force for much of the tournament, refusing to lose a set over four pool play matches before Hudson knocked the Wildcats out in the semi-finals. Elmwood/Plum City struggled a bit during pool play but found their games during the bracket portion Saturday.

River Falls

The Wildcats are already off to a 9-1 start to the year. Prior to the Sprawl, River Falls beat Prescott, St. Croix Central and Osceola 2-0. They rode that momentum right into pool play at the Sprawl, winning 2-0 over Osceola, Cadott, Clear Lake and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser to advance to the championship bracket. After taking down Grantsburg 2-0 and Barron 2-1, the Wildcats finally met their match in a 2-1 (19-25, 25-15, 14-16) loss to Hudson. River Falls scrimmaged both Barron and Hudson prior to the season, which made for an interesting rematch so soon into the season.

“I always like coming off of preseason where you’re excited to get back in the gym, and you can just see how they’ve developed throughout their club seasons, and now you’re putting your pieces of your puzzle back together again,” Head Coach Sara Kealy said. “The girls, from a chemistry standpoint, are really gelling. My senior leadership has been strong.”

Between seniors Brooke Dusek, Amelie Pankonin, Charlie Cegielski and Haley Matzek, the four combine for 11 seasons of varsity experience. Kealy was nervous to see the ball control and serve receive after star libero Olivia Doerre graduated but has been impressed thus far. Kealy said the start of the season has been focused on getting everyone comfortable in their new roles and positions.

“What I thought was going to be an issue really hasn’t been for us,” Kealy said. “At this point in time, we’ve got to figure our defensive schemes out.”

They are also looking to diversify their offense, not just going to one side or one player each time the ball comes around.

The Big Rivers Conference has seemingly become more competitive by the year. At the Sprawl, Hudson, Chippewa Falls and River Falls each reached the semi-finals. To compete with teams at State, Kealy believes you have to be tested during the season, and the Big Rivers Conference has provided that test of late.

“I enjoy where the BRC in general is at. There were probably five or six years where it was us,” Kealy said. “It makes us all better when you know you have to show up in those conference matches… It makes people better for playoff time.”

EPC

The Wolves started the year with their home tournament, beating Osseo-Fairchild, Bruce and Shell Lake to be named the champions.

“The kids looked really good, played really well as a team. Saw a lot of good things,” Head Coach Amanda Webb said. “It’s a huge confidence booster. I thought we looked really good.”
Heading to Menomonie over the weekend, EPC knew the event would be difficult. The school is one of the smallest in a tournament that features State contenders from the largest divisions.

EPC went 1-3 in pool play, beating Menomonie in a three-set battle (17-25, 25-11, 15-12). The Wolves lost 2-0 to McDonell and Spooner and narrowly lost a 15-13 third set decider to Grantsburg. EPC beat Cadott on Saturday to finish 30th of 40 teams.

“We saw some really good teams,” Webb said. “We learned we’ve got some work to do yet. We had some moments where we looked really good, moments where we’re still figuring some things out.”

The Wolves always know the Sprawl is going to be difficult, but it provides a great early season test to show where they can improve as the year goes on.

“Just being better passers off the serve right away. Our blocking and our swinging will come with a little bit of time,” Webb said.

Ellsworth

The Panthers went 0-4 in pool play, losing 2-1 to Bloomer and 2-0 to Prairie Farm/Clayton, St. Croix Falls and Eau Claire North. Ellsworth beat Lakeland on Saturday before losing to Baldwin-Woodville and Unity to finish in 36th place.

The entire Panther team is seniors and juniors currently, so the veteran leadership will only continue to help the team improve as the year goes along.

Next up for the Panthers is a Sept. 3 Durand Quad and a home match against Rice Lake on Sept. 8.