Wildcats win three more in DC play

They weren’t unblemished in any of the three matches, but the Blair-Taylor volleyball team still has a perfect overall record as they won three more last week.

The Wildcats opened play with a 3-1 win over Whitehall last week Monday. The next day they beat Melrose-Mindoro and, on Thursday topped Eleva-Strum, both by scores of 3-1. 

In all, B-T sits at 9-0 on the season with five of those wins coming in Dairyland Conference play. They have an overall set record of 24-4 and 15-3 in DC action.

B-T played at Alma Center Lincoln on Tuesday of this week and will host Alma/Pepin on Thursday. This coming Monday they head to Durand-Arkansaw before playing two other top DC teams in C-FC (4-1) and at home against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (4-0) next Tuesday and Thursday.

B-T      25 25 20 25

WHS    21 16 25 16

The Wildcats faltered in the third set, but rebounded to get the win. 

B-T won a close set then controlled the second with a nine-point win before the Norse battled to win the third. The match wasn’t extended too much longer, however, as the Wildcats finished with a nine-point win in the fourth.

Seniors Lindsay Steien and Abby Thompson led the Wildcats at the net with 16 and 13 kills, respectively. They were also the leaders at the service line as Steien had six service aces and Thompson finished with five. In all, the Wildcats had 17 aces in the match.

Thompson led the team with 28 digs as Whitehall’s defense managed 129 in the match. Anna White finished with 26 while Paige Kelly had 21, both Steien and Madison Goodbear finished with 15 and Lexi Lofgren managed 11. 

Goodbear totaled 33 set assists.  

 Norah Youngbauer and Olivia Killian both had 11 kills for the Norse as Abby Koepke managed 16 assists. Brinna Goplin led the team with 14 digs, one more than Koepke while Kambrie Wurzer had 11. 

B-T     18 25 25 25

M-M    25 16   8 12

After losing the first set, the Wildcats got down to business.

A slow start helped the Mustangs take the first set by seven points, but it was all B-T from there. The Wildcats outscored the Mustangs 75-36 over the final three sets, winning two by more than 10 points. 

Andrea Waldera led B-T with 12 kills as part of a balanced attack that also saw Steien total 11 and Kierstyn Kindschy finish with 10. Goodbear had a 27 assists.

Steien led the team with five aces, while Goodbear had three and both Thompson and Waldera finished with two. Thompson led the team with 23 digs, one more than White while Kelly had 16 and both Steien and Lofgren finished with 11.

B-T     23 25 25 25

E-S     25 21 22 17

Just like the match two days prior, the Wildcats lost the first set, but went on for the 3-1 win.

The Cardinals took an early lead before B-T came back to tie the first set let. E-S rebounded, scoring the last two points to win 25-23. The Wildcats came back strong to win the second and third sets before controlling the fourth for the 3-1 win.

Steien and Thompson led the team at the net again as the former had 16 kills and the latter finished with 14. Goodbear led the team again with 25 assists. 

Thompson also had five aces while Steien and Goodbear both had three and Kelly added two as the team totaled 15 in the match. 

Kelly helped the team’s defense with 33 digs, while Thompson added 29, Lofgren finished with 19, Steien, 18; White, 15 and Goodbear, 14.