Northern Badger title within reach

Photo by Travis Houslet / Capital Newspapers

Alex Gust launches a shot past the block attempt of Portage's Megan Thompson and another Warrior (not pictured) during Sauk Prairie's 25-20, 25-10, 25-13 win over the Warriors on Sept. 25.

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By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

The Sauk Prairie girls volleyball team's path to its first conference title since 1973 stayed on course Sept. 25.

Thanks to some nifty all-around passing and efficient serving.

"We really passed well that night, and they didn't," Eagles' coach Eleanor Engelby said in a phone interview Sept. 28, three days after her team beat Portage 25-20, 25-10, 25-13 to stay undefeated in the conference (7-0) and keep a one-match lead on Waunakee with five conference matches remaining. "If you can't pass, you can't set up your offense."

Part of the reason the Warriors — who led 11-10  in the first game but could only manage a 16-16 game-one tie and a 6-6 game-three tie after that — struggled to pass well was their inability to handle Sauk Prairie's serve.

"(We) kept serving extremely hard, and Portage had a hard time serve-receiving because we were serving strategically," Engelby said.

Added Portage (3-4, Badger North) coach Joann Armson after the match: "Our serve reception was not good at all — pretty much terrible."

Brittany Hahn collected 15 digs and Lauren Halweg notched 26 assists, 10 of which were to Alex Gust.

Lacey Puls led the Eagles' in serving with eight aces.

The match marked the first of the second half of the season, where each team plays each other for a second time. And while the Eagles haven't accomplished anything yet, Engelby said her team made a statement in the first half of the season.

"All their hard work is really showing now," she said. "They're really showing (the conference) how much work they've put in to making this a great season."

Results from Sauk Prairie's match with Reedsburg on Sept. 30 were not available in time for this edition.

-Travis Houslet of Capital Newspapers contributed to this story

Sauk Prairie 3, Baraboo 0

If Baraboo had any hope for an upset Sept. 23, Sauk Prairie put it to rest — quickly

The Eagles won game one 25-13 and finished the match with equally as convincing wins in games two and three — 25-8 and 25-12, respectively.

"The girls just played really well together as a team," Eleanor Engelby said. "They just played well overall."

And that has been a common theme for the Eagles so far, as they finished the first half of the conference-season undefeated (6-0).

Ashley Wipperfurth led Sauk Prairie with 14 kills and four-and-a-half blocks, and, along with Alex Gust, collected two aces. Brittany Hahn had 14 digs and Lauren Halweg had 27 assists.

SAUK PRAIRIE 3, BARABOO 0

Baraboo    13    8    12    —    0        

Sauk Prairie    25    25    25    —    3        

BARABOO: Kills — Anderson 4. Blocks — Statz 2. Digs — Zellmer 11. Aces — Anderson 2. Assists — Harrison 9.

SAUK PRAIRIE: (leaders): Kills — Ashley Wipperfurth 14. Blocks — Wipperfurth 4.5. Digs — Brittany Hahn 14.  Aces — Alex Gust, Wipperfurth 2. Assists — Halweg 27.

JV: Sauk Prairie won, 25-19, 22-25, 25-17.

Badger North Girls' volleyball Standings

                        W    L

SAUK PRAIRIE     7    0

Waunakee          6    1

Reedsburg          5    2

Portage              3    4

Baraboo             2    5

DeForest            1    6

Mt. Horeb           0    6