UNHAPPY ENDING

They felt good about their chances. They liked their seed, their postseason path, and how they had started to play. But Wisconsin Heights’ girls volleyball team couldn’t get over the hump in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal last Saturday night. Poynette, the No. 3 seed in the regional, toppled the second-seeded Vanguards, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23. Poynette went on to win the regional title and advanced to sectionals this week. “This last week we had been playing really good volleyball,” Heights coach Kala O’Connell said. “Saturday against Poynette was not our best volleyball. I don’t know if it was an unfamiliar gym, some minor injuries we were dealing with, or we just had an off night, but we just couldn’t get the ball to fall where we needed it to.” Heights’ volleyball team was shut down for 2 ½ weeks last month due to a COVID contact case. But the Vanguards won a pair of matches last week and seemed to be peaking as the postseason neared. Heights could never get rolling, though, against Poynette. “We started off with a lot of unforced errors and low energy,” O’Connell said. That helped Poynette win the first set. But the Vanguards seemingly got back on track by winning the second set. The critical third set was tied at 17. But Poynette finished on an 8-4 run and went ahead, 2-1. “We just couldn’t get enough momentum to finish with a win in that set,” O’Connell said. Poynette led, 18-15, in the fourth set, but the Vanguards ran off six straight points — five on the serving of Daryn Schaefer — and grabbed a 21-18 lead. Poynette rallied back though, forging a tie at 21 and then again at 23. The Pumas then scored the final two points of the match and advanced. “Being shut down for 2 1/2 weeks in an already shortened season was really tough,” said O’Connell, whose team finished the year 4-4. “We finished the season (with) eight total matches when we would have normally had over 20.  “We had to have a game over spring break when not all of our team was here and we had to squeeze in three games during the last week, so we had minimal practice time to work on anything from those games. We knew the season was coming to an end, we just didn’t think it would be on Saturday.” Kylee Doherty led the Vanguards with 22 kills and 12 digs, while Riley Lynch had eight kills, one block and an ace. Sydnee Duhr had three kills, nine digs, one block and two aces, while Emily Van Riper had 11 digs and two assists. Olivia Buol had five kills, two aces and a dig, while Schaefer had 32 assists, two kills and two aces. Ashley Mickelson had three kills, two digs and two assists, Makayla Westphal had five digs and Natalie Bartel had two digs. Amazingly, the Vanguards will start a new season in just four months. And with Lynch and Duhr the only graduating seniors, hopes will be extremely high. “This was such a fun group of girls that made me laugh every single day and I’m going to miss Riley and Sydnee so much next year,” O’Connell said. “As far as the other girls, we start the 2021 season in four months, which seems crazy, but I think we’ll all be ready to get back on the court by then.” In other action last week: • Wisconsin Heights 3, Cambridge 0 — The Vanguards toppled Cambridge, 27-25, 25-11, 25-19, on April 6. Doherty and Buol both had 13 kills and Schaefer had 29 assists. Doherty added four aces and Van Riper had 29 digs. • Wisconsin Heights 3, New Glarus 2 — The Vanguards rallied for a 17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 18-25, 16-14 win on April 8. Doherty led the way with 18 kills and Schaefer added 36 assists. Van Riper had 16 digs and three aces, while Mickelson had four blocks.   April 6 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 3, CAMBRIDGE 0 Cambridge ………….. 25 11 19 Heights ……........……27 25 25 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS (leaders) — Kills: Doherty 13; Buol 13. Assists: Schaefer 29. Blocks: Doherty 1; Lynch 1; Mickelson 1; Schaefer 1. Aces: Doherty 4. Digs: Van Riper 15. CAMBRIDGE— Kills: Holzheuter 6. Assists: Steinklyft 12. Blocks: Freeland 2; Holzheuter 2. Aces: Roidt 2; Steinklyft 2. Digs: Freeland 11.   April 8 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 3, NEW GLARUS 2 New Glarus …... 25 20 17 25 14 Heights ……… 17 25 25 18 16 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS — Kills: Doherty 18. Assists: Schaefer 36. Blocks: Mickelson 4. Aces: VanRiper 3. Digs: VanRiper 16.