Some good, some bad for Eagles’ spikers

When you’re building a program, not everything comes up roses. Amy Schlimgen and Sauk Prairie’s girls volleyball team discovered that last week. The Eagles dropped an intense, five-set match to Mount Horeb last Thursday. Sauk Prairie then finished in 10th place at the 17-team Middleton Invite last Saturday. “Kind of a rough week,” Schlimgen said. “Hopefully we can regroup and really concentrate on improving our game and eliminating errors this week.” Mount Horeb edged Sauk Prairie, 25-20, 25-23, 15-25, 16-25, 15-9 in a five-set thriller. “We came out a bit slow, then bounced back in an awesome way and dominated sets three and four,” Schlimgen said. Aida Shadewald led the Eagles with 20 kills, three aces and 10 digs, while Olivia Breunig had 22 assists, 14 kills and nine digs. Ainsley Apel had 26 digs and four aces, Maddy Setterlund had six kills and two saves, Kaitlyn Brickl had five digs and three aces, Jenna Pistono had 11 assists, and Olivia Paukner had three kills and two aces. “I was extremely pleased with the comeback and mental strength to do that after being down two sets against Mount Horeb,” Schlimgen said. “If we could play the way we did in those two sets all the time, we could be unstoppable.” At the Middleton Invite, the Eagles opened with a 25-13, 25-22 win over Madison West. Breunig had seven kills, eight assists and two blocks, while Pistono had seven assists and Shadewald had three kills, five digs and two blocks. Hannah Kruckman had two kills and two aces, Apel had eight digs and nine good serves with no errors, Setterlund had two kills, Lauren Wideen had two blocks, and Paukner had three kills, three aces and two blocks. Jefferson then defeated the Eagles, 25-21, 25-20. “We played pretty poorly and committed a lot of unforced errors in this match,” Schlimgen said of the Jefferson match. Sauk Prairie then met Germantown, the No. 5 rated team in Division 1. The Eagles played extremely well, but the Warhawks eventually prevailed, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10. Shadewald led the way with six kills, two aces and three blocks, while Breunig had five kills, nine assists, two blocks and two saves. Kaelin Young had two kills, Apel had 10 digs, Setterlund had two kills, Madison Pertzborn had three blocks and Brickl added three digs, two aces and two saves. “We bounced back once again and played some great volleyball against Germantown,” Schlimgen said. The Eagles finished third in their pool, which sent them to the consolation bracket. There, Sauk Prairie posted a huge win over Cuba City, 22-25, 25-15, 15-12. Shadewald had 10 kills and four aces, while Breunig had seven kills and eight assists. Pistono had 11 assists and two aces, while Paukner had three kills and Young had two kills. Brickl added 13 digs and Apel had 11 digs. “That was a nice win,” Schlimgen said. “Cuba City is always athletically strong and a very solid program.” Mount Horeb then ended the Eagles’ day, though, with a 25-17, 25-20 win. Breunig had six kills and five assists, while Shadewald had four kills, two aces and nine digs. Apel had six digs, Brickl had four digs and three aces, and Pistono had seven assists. • On deck: Sauk Prairie is at Reedsburg Thursday at 7 p.m., then heads to the Westfield Invite Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 21 MIDDLETON INVITATIONAL Championship: Verona def. Madison Edgewood, 25-16, 25-16. Verona leaders — Kills: McIntosh 6, Touchett 6; Aces: Bobb 3; Digs: Hust 9, Bobb 9; Assists: Armstrong 17. Semifinals: Verona def. Platteville, 25-21, 25-20. Verona leaders — Kills: Touchett 7; Aces: McIntosh 4; Digs: McIntosh 5; Assists: Armstrong 25. Verona: Def. Wisconsin Heights, 25-14, 25-14; def. Madison Edgewood, 25-12, 25-16; def. Holmen, 25-20, 25-23. Stoughton: Lost to Wisconsin Heights, 20-25, 23-25; lost to Cuba City, 29-31, 11-25; lost to Madison Memorial, 13-25, 15-25; def. Evansville, 25-16, 25-17. Pool A: Platteville 4-0, Middleton 3-1, Mount Horeb 2-2, Evansville 1-3, Oregon 0-4. Pool B: Germantown 3-0, Jefferson 2-1, Sauk Prairie 1-2, Madison West 0-3. Pool C: Madison Memorial 3-0, Wisconsin Heights 2-1, Cuba City 1-2, Stoughton 0-3. Pool D: Verona 3-0, Madison East 2-1, Holmen 1-2, Monticello 0-3. Sept. 19 MOUNT HOREB 3, SAUK PRAIRIE 2 Sauk Prairie ............... 20 23 25 25 9 Mount Horeb .............. 25 25 15 16 15 SAUK PRAIRIE (leaders) — Kills: Shadewald 20. Assists: O. Breunig 22. Blocks: Pertzborn 2. Aces: Apel 4. Digs: Apel 21. MOUNT HOREB — Kills: Goetzinger 25. Assists: Mason 19. Blocks: Fox 3. Aces: Goetzinger 2. Digs: Steinhauer 10.