Eagles closing in on a title

MOUNT HOREB — It was an atmosphere befitting a conference championship match. And the girls volleyball teams from Sauk Prairie and Mount Horeb certainly didn’t disappoint. The Eagles earned at least a share of the Badger Small Conference dual match title with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the host Vikings on Oct. 1.  The Eagles used a strong start and finish to prevail 25-14, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-9 and improve to 6-0 in league play. Sauk Prairie could clinch the outright league title with a win over Stoughton on Oct. 8. Mount Horeb fell to 5-1 in the conference. “As I’m watching the sets go by, I’m thinking, ‘this is good volleyball.’ This is what people come to see, two teams going head-to-head, and both want it so badly and have the skill level to play this level of volleyball,” Sauk Prairie coach Allison Steinmetz said. “This is fun. Both teams put an awesome effort in. We’ve got things we can continue to work on. Even though it was a win, we have things to work on, too.” After the teams traded the first four sets, Mount Horeb jumped to a 6-2 lead in the fifth set following three consecutive service aces from senior libero Kennedy Myers. Sauk Prairie coach Allison Steinmetz said she was proud of how her team responded with their backs against the wall. “It was a matter of when we get in a hole, who is going to step up on our team to help lead,” she said. “Who is going to pull us out of a spot where we don’t want to be?”  Junior Mallory Hartwig, who finished with a match-high 12 kills, promptly ended the run with a resounding kill to answer the call. “The drop serves are always hard to pick up. A lot of times, it’s a mind game,” Steinmetz said. “If they get three in a row, it’s a mind game on how can we get out of this? They’re good servers.” Hartwig later responded with back-to-back aces to pull Sauk Prairie even at 8-8. Sauk Prairie never trailed again, finishing off the Vikings with a 7-1 closing run. “We just relied on each other and stayed together as a team and picked ourselves up,” said Eagles’ senior Gracyn Meyer, who finished with seven kills and six blocks. Mount Horeb coach Josh Smelzer said the Vikings had opportunities to pull out the victory. “We’re all a little sad,” he said. “We had conference at our fingertips. We just could quite get it done. “But we have bigger goals and aspirations. I told them to let this be the chip on your shoulder. Let this be the reason to push harder in practice and try harder because we have growth.” Mount Horeb, which scored first in four of the five sets held an early 5-3 lead in the first set. But Sauk Prairie came storming back to grab an 11-7 lead on a service ace from junior Ella Logterman, that highlighted a 6-1 run and forced a Mount Horeb timeout. The Eagles then extended their lead to 13-7 before Mount Horeb could break service. Senior setter Greta Shadewald recorded two service aces down the stretch as the Eagles pulled away for a 25-14 victory. “It gave us a big boost and confidence for the end,” senior Mara Helwig said. “We had a lot of energy.” Mount Horeb regrouped and stormed back to take the second set, 25-22. The Vikings snapped a 10-10 tie with a 4-0 surge sparked by three straight aces from Myers. “We’re a strong serving team,” Smelzer said. “Coach Paul Hogseth does a lot of game planning and strategizing for that and has done an amazing job this year. It’s really been something we can lean on.” Although Sauk Prairie regained the lead, 19-17, Mount Horeb would not be denied. Senior Jayse Holman recorded a kill to start the Vikings’ comeback, and they closed out the match on an 8-3 run. “We just had the confidence, we know we can come back and win.” said Holman, who led Mount Horeb with 12 kills “We’ve done it before. I’m sure we’ll do it again. Just knowing we can do it, we made it work.” Mount Horeb quickly grabbed a 4-0 lead in the third set before junior Alaina Kraemer gave Sauk Prairie a 10-7 lead with an ace. Senior defensive specialist Lizzy Mesenberg then recorded three of her match-high 10 aces to help the Vikings grab an 11-10 lead. “When they get going, I’d hate to be on the receiving side,” senior Morgan Monroe said of Mesenberg and Myers, who finished with seven aces. “They just get into a zone and are tough to receive.”  However, Sauk Prairie quickly regrouped to pull in front 13-11 and never trailed the rest of the set, finishing off Mount Horeb 25-21. That loss only served to inspire the Vikings, who jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fourth set. While Sauk Prairie soared back to take a 17-15 lead when Logterman served an ace, Mount Horeb used a 10-2 closing run to even the match at two sets apiece. “We just knew we had to have more energy than them,” Holman said. “(Sauk Prairie) just kept bringing it. So, we had to bring it more.” Sauk Prairie outhit Mount Horeb .220-.043 and held a 69-48 edge in digs and 13-5 margin in blocks. Mount Horeb finished with 19 aces to Sauk Prairie’s 18. Steinmetz said the Eagles serving efforts played a key role in the victory. “We have a good serving team,” she said. “We spend a lot of time working on our serving placement and knowing where our opponents are looking to serve. I expect good serves out of them all the time. “I know they’re going to make mistakes. But at this level, you’ve got to be able to serve to play on the court.” Meyer, a UW-Parkside commit, said she expected a tough battle and was proud of the Eagles’ resiliency. “We just brought our energy up, things were moving, and we ran our offense well,” she said. “– We had a lot of good serves and were aggressive.” Added Helwig: “We fought the whole time, but we really picked it up in the last set. Our energy was so much more up. We had good talks in the huddle, and that really brought us up.” • On deck: Sauk Prairie closed out its conference dual season Tuesday against Stoughton. The Eagles host Madison Memorial in a non-conference dual on Thursday at 7 p.m.  Sauk Prairie will compete at the Badger Small Conference tournament at Portage on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. The Eagles close out the regular season with a Badger Challenge matchup against visiting Beaver Dam on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.   Oct. 1 Sauk Prairie 3, Mount Horeb 2 Sauk ............. 25 22 25 19 15   MoHo ................ 14 25 21 25  9 SAUK PRAIRIE (leaders) — Kills: Mallory Hartwig 13, Gracyn Meyer 7, Greta Shadewald 6. Assists: Greta Shadewald 23. Aces: Marisa Kruckman 4, Hartwig 3, Ella Logterman 3, Greta Shadewald 3. Digs: Hartwig 15, Leah Allen 12. Blocks: Meyer 6, Hartwig 4, Logterman 3.  MOUNT HOREB — Kills: Jayse Holman 12, Ella Kahl 8, Ruby Dahlk 7, Finley Moore 6. Assists: Lalia Rasmussen 25. Aces: Lizzy Mesenberg 10, Kennedy Myers 7. Digs: Myers 15, Rasmussen 10, Morgan Monroe 6, Maya Newman 5. Blocks: Moore 4, Rasmussen 2.