Wildcats drop two of three in DC play
Andrea Waldera of Blair-Taylor went for a block during their match against Cochrane-Fountain City on Thursday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
The Blair-Taylor volleyball team began last week with a win, but lost two matches as it fell to .500 on the season.
The Wildcats gutted out a five-set win over Melrose-Mindoro last week Monday, but lost to Alma/Pepin in five sets on Tuesday and to Cochrane-Fountain City in four on Thursday.
B-T began this week with a 6-6 overall record and a 4-3 mark in Dairyland Conference play, behind Whitehall (4-1), C-FC (5-1) and Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (6-0). The Wildcats played a non-conference home match against Durand on Monday before heading to ECIL on Tuesday. They’ll host Mondovi this coming Monday and close out the regular season in Augusta next Thursday.
M-M 25 16 25 23 7
B-T 22 25 22 25 15
Despite a convincing win in the second set, the Wildcats had their backs against the wall with a 2-1 deficit.
The Mustangs won the first and third sets by identical 25-22 scores, with B-T taking the second, 25-16. The fourth set was close, but the Wildcats held on for a 25-23 win before finishing the night with a 15-7 victory.
Sophomore Andrea Waldera was a force at the net with 20 kills and three blocks. Freshman Chloe Medenblik had 13 kills and three blocks. Both also had success at the service line as Medenblik had four aces and Waldera finished with two.
Anna White had four aces for B-T and led the team with 21 assists. Maddie Frederixon had three aces, three kills and 11 digs. Paige Kelly led the team with 38 digs, Jenna Beam added 12, Waldera finished with 10 and White had two.
B-T 19 25 20 25 8
A/P 25 16 25 20 15
It was almost a repeat of the previous night, but this time the Wildcats didn’t have enough to finish the comeback.
The first three sets weren’t quite as close as A/P won the first and the third by six and five points and B-T won the second by nine. B-T avoided elimination with a 25-20 win in the fourth, but fell in the fifth.
Medenblik led the Wildcats with 18 kills, three blocks and four aces. Waldera had 11 kills, two blocks and one ace.
White led the team with 15 assists while adding three aces. Frederixon had one ace and three kills. Kelly led the team with 19 digs, Waldera added 13, Beam finished with 12 and Frederixon had seven.
C-FC 25 25 17 25
B-T 15 16 25 14
The Wildcats again extended the match, but couldn’t finish in a four-set loss.
The Pirates controlled the first two sets, winning by a combined 19 points to go ahead 2-0. B-T fired back with an eight-point win in the third, but C-FC returned to form and won the fourth by 11.
Waldera had 12 blocks and eight kills while Medenblik had seven kills and four blocks. Medenblik, Frederixon and White all had one ace for B-T.
White led the team with 10 assists and added nine digs. Frederixon had five kills and seven digs, Beam finished with eight digs, Waldera had 12 and Kelly led the team with 20.
