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MG VOLLEYBALL OUTLASTS STOUGHTON

MG volleyball outlasts Stoughton

MIKE KLAWITTER

The Herald Independent | 10/5/2016

Sarah Busalacchi quietly sat on the bench while her Monona Grove High School volleyball team members hugged each other after the key Badger South Conference 3-2 victory over Stoughton on Sept. 29.

But the head coach admitted she was exhausted.

“I woke up at 3:30 in the morning with a pit in my stomach,” Busalacchi said. “This match was that much on my mind.”

It was an adreniline-filled game with so many lead changes and outstanding plays that its conclusion would’ve put anyone on the verge of collapse.

Luckily, MG’s energy level stayed high enough to come back from a 2-1 set deficit and win the tiebreaker 15-13.

The Silver Eagles (29-3 overall, 5-0 in conference) used a 10-4 run to close out the Vikings in the first set 25-18. Yet, that would be the last time MG would have the lead over the next two and a half sets. Stoughton (20-2, 4-1) opened up a 21-11 lead in the second set to win 25-16 and then aside from a 13-13 tie, led all the way in the third set for a 25-21 victory.

Knowing a loss in the next set would mean a match defeat, the Silver Eagles stole the momentum from the Vikings in the fourth set with a 5-0 run that put them in front to stay 16-13. The lead would increase to 22-17 before Stoughton scored four in a row to cut its deficit to one. But MG held back the Vikings to take a 25-22 win.

“Going into the fourth set, I told the team they were playing like six separate players on the floor,” Busalacchi said. “We knew we had to get it back together and stop blaming people. We came together as a team and won as a team.”

In the fifth set, the Vikings held a 6-2 advantage, but the Silver Eagles 8-3 run gave them a 10-9 lead. The game would be tied three ties before an MG return that rolled on the tape of the net and dropped on the Stoughton side gave the Silver Eagles a 15-13 win and the match victory.

As usual, Monona Grove’s tall players up front made the difference as 6-foot senior Kylie Meinholz and 6-foot-1 sophomore McKenna Warnock combined for 37 kills in response to Stoughton’s Rachel Hedman who had 44 kills to go with four aces.

Warnock said the victory should be a good momentum builder heading into future matches.

“We knew we had to come together to beat this very good Stoughton team,” Warnock said. “We knew if we talked and moved on the court, we would come out with a win.”

Other Monona Grove contributors included senior Katherine Manthe with three blocks and senior Maddy Braun with 40 assists. Senior Stephanie Kachel had 20 digs, while junior Morgan Ellingson had 17.

Braun said the team knew this match would be the biggest of the season and defeating Stoughton is huge.

“They got into our heads, and we knew we had to be loose and have fun,” Braun said. “We knew we were playing a good team, and we just had to calm down to win the last two sets.”

Monona Grove has now won 20 matches in a row with its last defeat coming against Big Foot in an Aug. 27 invitational at Janesville Craig High School.

The Silver Eagles have another conference meet Thur... Click here to read full article

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