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Lady Wildcats are on a roll
SW VB Budden kill
Southwestern middle hitter Michelle Budden smashed down 22 kills and added three service aces to lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 sweep over Darlington in a SWAL match at SHS on Thursday, Sept. 10. - photo by Thomas Gunnell

HAZEL GREEN — With a 3-0 sweep of visiting Darlington last Thursday night, the Southwestern varsity volleyball team improved to 2-0 in Southwest Wisconsin Activities League action and 9-0 overall.

Coach Jane Wills’ squad had little trouble with the Redbirds, winning by scores of 25-10, 25-15 and 25-7.

“It was our first home game of the season and we were very proud of the way the girls looked,” said Coach Wills. “We are already seeing improvements from our conference opener on Tuesday.”

Junior Michelle Budden led the Wildcats with 22 total kills to go along with three blocks.

Senior Miranda Kemp added four kills and two blocks, while junior Amber Brand had four kills, five service aces, and nine digs.

Dishing out a team-high 31 assists was junior setter Madison Kuhl, who also had four ace serves.

Leading the team with 14 digs was senior Melissa Tranel, while junior Claire Splinter had 10.

The Wildcats opened up conference play with a 3-1 win over host Mineral Point two night’s earlier. The Pointers took the first game, 26-24, then Southwestern closed out the match with three straight wins of 25-10, 25-19 and 25-11.

Budden led the team with 32 kills and five service aces, while Kuhl dished out 36 assists. Splinter had a team-high 16 digs, while Kemp had three blocks.

The Wildcats swept Iowa-Grant on Tuesday, and eded neighboring Cuba City's 43-match SWAL winning streak Thursday night. Southwestern will participate in the Benton Tournament on Saturday. Complete coverage of this week's matches will appear in next week's Tri-County Press.

Southwestern 3, Mineral Point 1
(from Tuesday, Sept. 8)

Southwestern    24    25    25    25
Mineral Point    26    10    19    11
Southwestern leaders
Kills - Michelle Budden 32. Digs - Splinter 16. Aces - Budden 5. Assists - Kuhl 36. Blocks - Kemp 3.

Southwestern 3, Darlington 0
(from Thursday, Sept. 10)

Darlington        10    15    7
Southwestern    25    25    25
Southwestern leaders
Kills - Michelle Budden 22. Digs - Melissa Tranel 14, Claire Splinter 10, Amber Brand 9. Aces - Brand 5, Madisn Kuhl 4. Assists - Kuhl 31. Blocks - Budden 3, Miranda Kemp 2.