Area teams compete for wide-open Dairyland Conference title
Last week was the week that change became possible in Dairyland Conference in volleyball
Years of dominance of the league standings by Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran and Blair-Taylor was upended as both teams took losses to teams they hadn't lost to in a long, long time.
And thus, things are now loosening up and chances exists for a different team to win the league title in 2026.
"I do feel it's wide open this season," Augusta head coach Alicia Bethke said. "There's always been good competition but some teams now have a better chance of winning than they've had in the past, including ourselves. The door is open for anyone who wants to go through it."
Augusta (5-6 overall) had one of those victories last week Tuesday, Sept. 15 winning at Blair-Taylor by a 3-1 score (the other was Alma/Pepin's upset of Immanuel 3-2 on the same night). After splitting the first two games 25-23 and 20-25, the Beavers surged to win Games 3 and 4 by scores of 25-17 and 25-23. AHS was led in kills by Maddi Meyer with 12 with teammates Stella Zank and Kadyn Kirkham getting five and four kills respectively. The Beavers also had 11 aces led by Meyer and Tessa Schroeder's three each. Brooklyn Krueger had a team-leading 14 digs and Zank had 13 and Cecelia Schroder had 12. Krueger finished with 16 assists.
This came after the Beavers went 1-3 the week before. They went 1-2 in the Greenwood Quadrangular on Sept. 8 (Augusta 0, Greenwood 2
23-25 & 15-25; Augusta 1, Plainfield Tri-County 2; 25-17, 24-26, 13-15 and Augusta 2 ,Thorp 0, 25-18, 25-12) and lost 3-1 at Lincoln back on Sept. 10. Augusta won the second game 25-22 after losing Game 1 by a score 26-24. The Hornets dominated Games 3 and 4 by scores of 25-19 and 25-13.
"We just did not play very well the week before and lost matches that we should have won," Bethke said. "And I asked the team before the (Blair-Taylor) match, do you want this to go quick or do you want to fight for it? And they showed their fight. I saw the change in them, especially as they did well their confidence grew and their talent took over."
Augusta extended its winning streak to two in a 3-0 sweep of rival Osseo-Fairchild last week Thursday, Sept. 17. Game scores were 25-12, 25-18 and 25-18. Meyer and fellow senior Kirkham led the way with eight kills each and Meyer had two aces as well.
"We were more scrappy this week and we picked each other up and supported each other," Meyer said. "It showed in the way we played. Our communication was very good too."
O-F was led by Jianna Scheffer's five kills and three aces. Avery James had four blocks. Sara Giacomino had seven digs and Brylie Johnson had 22 assists. The effort Thursday wasn't the same as O-F gave in pushing Cochrane-Fountain City to five games on Tuesday, Oct. 15, which was Parent's Night. The Thunder battled back n' forth with C-FC, winning Game 2 by a 25-23 score and Game 4 at 25-16 after losing Game 3 by a 25-11 margin. However the Pirates took Game 5, 15-5.
"You could tell it was Homecoming week for us" O-F head coach Kelly Schulte commented. "We started great, really battled hard although we came up short on Tuesday and then Thursday and at times Saturday, our effort wasn't bad but it wasn't at the level we need it to be to win or even just give ourselves a chance to win."
Against the Pirates Kierra Sieg led the way with eight kills, Johnson had 17 assists and five aces, Giacomino had 13 digs and James had five blocks, four of them solos.
Still, O-F was able to come up with a win at Saturday's Eleva-Strum Invitational to finish with a 1-4 mark for the meet (2-14 overall). The Thunder beat Lincoln in two games, including a 28-26 second game but lost in straight game to Elmwood/Plum City 25-15, 25-21; Thorp 25-22, 25-22 and Necedah, also by a 25-22 score. O-F did at least push the host school to three games in their final effort of the day, winning Game 2 by a 25-12 margin but losing Game 3 by a 15-8 score after taking the early lead.
O-F also had close calls in two matches the previous week, falling at home to Neillsville in five games 15-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 10-15 on Sept. 8 and losing 3-1 at Whitehall on Sept. 10. by a 25-27, 25-19, 8-25, 17-25 outcome. Against the Warriors, Mady Lafky and Johnson each had four arces, Giacomino had 14 digs, Scheffer and Addie Swanson each had eight kills with Scheffer adding in four blocks and Johnson had 13 assists. Against the Norse, Johnson had a whopping nine aces, Scheffer had two blocks, Swanson had nine kills and Johnson finished with 12 assist,
O-F also again struggled in the Chippewa Falls McDonell Meet back non Sept. 12., losing 26-28 and 17-25 to Cameron, 11-25 and 10-25 to Baldwin-Woodville, 22-25 and 23-25 to Loyal, 4-25 and 9-25 to No. 2 ranked McDonell and 21-25 and 16-25 to Elk Mound.
Osseo-Fairchild's three-game match with Eleva-Strum was one of three the Cardinals had in their own invite and if they hadn't won they would have gone below. 500 for the meet. Two of the three-game contests were against the top two teams in the meet, Elmwood/Plum City, which won it with a 5-0 mark and Thorp, which came into the day 5-12 overall but left 9-13. The Cardinals won five straight games to start the meet yet EPC rallied back to win Game 2 by a 25-21 score and broke E-S in Game 3, winning 15-4. A similar situation happened in the Thorp match and could have happened to the home team vs. Osseo-Fairchild before the momentum swung back to E-S in Game 3.
Controlling momentum has been a key teaching point for head coach Katie Skoug this season from the very beginning.
"We have to be more consistent in our play," Skoug said. "It's something I've harped on all season. We can't lose control or concentration or focus when things our going our way. We have to keep it and stay with it."
That was true in the Cards' win at home back on Sept. 10 over Pepin/Alma. Central took the first two games by 25-22 scores but the Eagles soared to win Games 3 and 4 25-22 and 25-15. It was only a surge at the end of Game 5 led by seniors Maddea Brown serving and Josie Iverson up front that led Central to the 15-11 DC victory.
Iverson had three kills while Brown had two kills, two blocks and two aces in the match. Junior middle hitter Brenley Bauer led the Cards' with 10 kills and three blocks and senior Dahlia Lonetree-Rindahl had seven kills and Avaya Zwiefelhofer had six. But it was serving that was decisive for Eleva-Strum as they finished with 16 aces led by Bauer's six and junior Greta Hanson's five.
"Our serving was awesome tonight, it really made a big difference," Bauer said.
The Cards (9-7 overall) have had to adjust playing without Aliza Kulig, the graduated 6-1 middle who is now at Viterbo.
"It was weird at first because she had started for four years, and now she wasn't there," Bauer said. "But we've worked hard in practice this fall and all summer to be the team we are and it's going to pay off."
Indeed after the first three league games, E-S is on top with a 3-0 record. This includes, last week's three-game sweeps of Melrose-Mindoro at home on Sept. 17 and Lincoln on the road Sept. 17. Next up is Blair-Taylor on Tuesday, Sept. 22 and Osseo-Fairchild on Thursday, Sept. 24, both at home. The Cards are at New Auburn for a non-conference match on Sept. 29.
Dairyland Conference Volleyball Standings
Team W-L
Eleva-Strum 3-0
Independence/Gilmanton 3-0
Augusta 2-1
Whitehall 2-1
Blair-Taylor 1-1
Lincoln 1-1
Alma/Pepin 1-2
Cochrane-Fountain City 1-2
Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 1-2
Melrose-Mindoro 0-2
Osseo-Fairchild 0-3
This Week's Matches
Tuesday, Sept. 22
Whitehall at Melrose-Mindoro
Pepin/Alma at Cochrane-Fountain City
Lincoln at Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran
Blair-Taylor at Eleva-Strum
Independence/Gilmanton at Augusta
Thursday, Sept. 24
Cochrane-Fountain City at Melrose-Mindoro
Osseo-Fairchild at Eleva-Strum
Pepin/Alma at Augusta
Whitehall at Lincoln
Next Week's Matches
Monday, Sept. 28
Blair-Taylor at Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran
Tuesday, Sept. 29
Whitehall at Cochrane-Fountain City
Eau Claire Immanuel at Augusta
Melrose-Mindoro at Alma/Pepin
Osseo-Fairchild at Blair-Taylor
Indpendence/Gilmanton at Lincoln
