Season ends at Richland Center

Brady Ambrose/Times Press

The RAHS volleyball season came to an end Tuesday night at Richland Center as the Beavers were swept 3-0 in the first game of the WIAA regionals.

 Sophomore Kelley Lynch and senior Paige Schneider each had 12 kills, while sophomore Kelsey Collins had 19 assists as the host and third-seeded Hornets beat the sixth-seeded Beavers, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20. The Hornets, who finished second in the SWAL with a 7-3 conference record, moved on to play Sauk Prairie Friday night at Sauk.

Reedsburg led for a short time in game one, taking a 4-1 lead to start the match. But the Hornets five straight points to go up 6-4 before a kill by Allie McMillen got Reedsburg within one at 6-5.

The Hornets scored five straight and went up 11-5 on a mis-hit by Reedsburg's Jade Clement, but a kill by freshman Beth Maenpaa got Reedsburg within five at 13-8, and another kill by Maenpaa closed the gap to 14-10.

Richland Center answered with a 6-3 run to take a 20-13 lead, but a block by Ali Lohr, followed by two kills from McMillen, got the Beavers back in the game at 20-18.

Again the Hornets responded with three straight points before Carly Yager got a sideout for Reedsburg with a kill, but Richland Center took game one with two kills from Lynch for a 25-19 win.

The Hornets never trailed in game two, jumping out to a 6-3 lead on a kill by Paige Schneider.

A kill from Yager and two from Maenpaa got Reedsburg close at 11-7, and the Beavers actually closed the gap to 14-12 on a spike from McMillen. But mental mistakes then started to take a toll on the Beavers.

The Hornets took an 18-13 lead on a Lynch kill, but Reedsburg scored two straight before Ali Greenwood drilled a spike attempt into the net and the Beavers let a serve by Danni Vetesnik drop in for a 20-15 lead that forced coach Amy Schultz to call a time out.

Ali Lohr scored for Reedsburg to make the score 20-16, but the Hornets scored three of the next four points to take a 23-17 lead that again forced Schultz to call a time out. A kill by Maenpaa would be the Beavers' last point of game two as the Hornets scored the next two and won game two 25-18 on a spike by Alyssa Krajco.

Game three again saw Reedsburg hang close in the early going, but eventually Richland Center pulled away for the win at 25-20. The Beavers trailed 8-5, but a kill by Greenwood made it 8-6.

A spike by McMillen sailed long, and a spike by Paige Schneider put the Beavers down 13-7. Trailing 15-9 Ali Lohr sailed a spike attempt long, and back-to-back kills by Lynch put the Hornets up 19-10 and Schultz called another time out. The coach said,  We played okay at Richland Center on Tuesday. It's tough to pull out a victory when your team lacks enthusiasm for part of the match."

Lohr stopped the Hornet run with a spike after the time out, but Maenpaa miss-hit a spike attempt to give the Hornets another point. Kills by Yager and Katie Rhodes got Reedsburg within six at 20-14, and a kill by McMillen closed the door a little more and forced Richland Center coach Laura Selgeby to call a time out as the Beavers had went on a 5-2 run to get to 21-16. The Beavers scored another point after the time out, but Richland Center went up by five at 23-18 on a kill by Lindee Fry and a miss-hit serve from the Beavers. Fry then hit her next spike attempt into the net to get Reedsburg within four at 23-19, but Sarah Chrabaszcz sent a serve into the net for a 24-19 score. Katie Rhodes got the Beavers to 24-20 with a spike, but Rhodes then served up the next point into the net to give Richland Center a 25-20 win and a 3-0 sweep.

Reedsburg got 11 kills from junior Allie McMillen in the loss and eight from Beth Maenpaa, seven from Carly Yager and four from Ali Lohr.

Katie Rhodes had 26 assists, and Sarah Chrabaszcz had 12 digs in the loss. Schultz added, "I thought Beth Maenpaa and Katie Rhodes both played really well on Tuesday. Also, as a team we served 95 percent."

Reedsburg ends the season with a 2-10 record in the Badger North, but should improve dramatically in the future with 11 players returning next season. "I am excited to have 11 players back for next year's volleyball season," said Schultz. "The athletes will have a season of varsity experience under their belts."