MONTICELLO – Black Hawk remained in the hunt for a second-place finish in the Six Rivers East after rallying from an early 0-1 deficit to saddle the host Monticello Ponies, 3-1, in a hard-fought prep volleyball match on Thursday, Oct. 6.
    Argyle locked up the East championship at home on Tuesday, Oct. 4, thanks to a 3-1 victory over the Warriors (12-7-1 overall, 6-4 SRE), and then the Orioles (10-0) took down Juda with a 3-2 decision on Thursday to drop the Panthers (6-4) into a three-way tie with Black Hawk and Barneveld (6-4) heading into the final week of the regular season.
    The Lady Warriors control their own destiny in the battle for second-place since they host Barneveld on Tuesday, Oct. 11, and Juda on Thursday, Oct. 13, to close their East schedule. Both matches will be Pink Night fundraisers at Black Hawk.
    “The girls have worked hard and done everything we’ve asked of them. That’s all I can ask for,” said Black Hawk head coach Rachel Wolff. “I’d rather not have four losses, but it’s a very competitive league and I’m satisfied where were at.”
    Monticello (5-5) got off to a good start in their Pink Night match on Thursday, taking set one from the Warriors by a score of 25-20.
    The Warriors evened the match at 1-1 with a comfortable 25-11 decision in set two, and they were able eke out wins of 25-21 in set three and 25-22 in set four to put away the Ponies.
    “I knew it was going to be tough. It feels good to get a win against a quality team like Monticello,” added Wolff. “There were a lot of things that weren’t going our way early, but once we got a few (hits) that landed in we found the intensity and our communication improved. We put it together and finished them off.”  
    Senior middle hitter Sammy Lovelace, who closed out sets three and four with game-winning kills, finished the night with 15 kills, 15 digs and an ace to lead the Warriors.
    Senior outside hitter Jordyn Delzer tallied 11 kills and 14 digs, while her sister, sophomore Sydney Delzer, contributed seven kills and seven blocks and freshman Hannah Butler added nine kills, five blocks and an ace.
    Junior setter Hannah Herbst distributed 31 assists and had 12 digs. Junior libero Teearia Sweeney recorded a team-best 19 digs and senior Elizabeth Holland registered six blocks for the Warriors.
    “It’s fun to watch a volleyball match when it’s competitive like that. They were very scrappy. We would have some decent hits, but they didn’t go down because they were diving for everything. My girls did a nice job of staying in the play the whole way,” Wolff noted.
     At Argyle, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, the host Orioles put the finishing touches on their second consecutive conference championship by besting the Lady Warriors, 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-17, in a SRE clash.
       Hannah Herbst had 16 assists, 12 digs and two aces to lead the Warriors, while Jordyn Delzer chipped in with nine kills and 12 digs. Sammy Lovelace led the team with 12 kills. Sydney Delzer and Elizabeth Holland scored two blocks apiece, and freshman Maddy Huschitt dished out seven assists for Black Hawk.
    Ashley Bruehlman tallied 20 kills and six aces, while Jena Saalsaa provided 15 kills and Kayla Butler-Paulson handed out 38 assists to lead the Orioles.
    Black Hawk opens the WIAA Division 4 tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 18, with a quarterfinal match. The playoff brackets had not been released at press time. The regional semifinal matches are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20, and the regional championship matches will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22.
 
Black Hawk……….. 19   22   26   17
Argyle……………… 25   25   24   25
Black Hawk Leaders– Kills: Sammy Lovelace 14, Jordyn Delzer 9. Blocks: Elizabeth Holland 2, Sydney Delzer 2. Assists: Hannah Herbst 16, Maddy Huschitt 7. Aces: Herbst 2. Digs: Herbst 12, J. Delzer 12.
At Argyle on Tuesday, Oct. 4
 
Black Hawk……….. 20   25   25   25
Monticello………… 25   11   21   22
Black Hawk Leaders– Kills: Sammy Lovelace 15, Jordyn Delzer 11, Hannah Bulter 9. Blocks: Sydney Delzer 7, Elizabeth Holland 6. Assists: Hannah Herbst 31. Aces: Butler 1, Lovelace 1.Digs: Teeria Sweeney 19, Lovelace 15, J. Delzer 14, Herbst 12.
At Monticello on Thursday, Oct. 6