12A

SIX RIVERS WEST: BELMONT 3, SHULLSBURG 2

Braves tip Miners for Tessa

by Tom Gunnell

gunnerrjsports@yahoo.com

BELMONT On a night
Belmont was honoring a
young cancer survivor, the
Lady Braves were not going
to go down without a fight.
With a lot of area volleyball
teams going pink in October
for Breast Cancer Awareness
month, the Braves opted to
go blue with their Tipping
for Tessa benefit for Tessa
Carey, a BHS student with
Down Syndrome who was
diagnosed with leukemia in
October of 2013 and has endured intense chemotherapy
sessions to fight her disease.
The Braves held a benefit
for Tessa and her parents,
Dan and Becky Carey of Belmont, throughout the night,
but they honored her even
further by rallying from an
02 deficit to defeat the visiting Shullsburg Miners, 32,
in a thrilling Six Rivers West
match last Thursday.
They could have given up
at any point, but they continued to work hard, said Belmont head coach Michelle
Wedig, who went to school
with Dan Carey at Belmont.
I think this game was really
special for them because of
the Tessa benefit. They really,
really wanted to win this one
for her.
A victory seemed unlikely
early on as the Miners (613
overall, 26 SRW) jumped out
to a quick 2-0 advantage with
wins of 2518 and 2517 over
the Braves (511, 27).
However, the match was far
from over. Belmonts comeback started early in set three
with an eight-point service
run by junior Caitlyn Gilbertson, which snapped a 55
tie and build up a 135 lead.
Shullsburg got as close as 19
16, but the Braves held on for
a 2520 win to stay alive.
Anytime we can get the
momentum on our side, it
helps in every aspect of the
game, said Wedig. The girls
become more confident in
their hitting, in their passing
and in their serving.
The Braves momentum
continued to build throughout the fourth set and rose to

Hillmen
u from page 12A
Claire Tashner added 16
kills, 24 digs, nine blocks and
six aces.
Rachel Emendorfer passed
out a team-high 35 assists
and had eight aces. Jenna
Phillips contributed 27 assists, seven aces and 23 digs.
We played well and played
to our potential instead of
playing up or down, said
Neal. We were very consistent all day. Offensively we
worked hard to move the ball
around to different hitter and
defensively we worked hard
to get to every ball.
This team is successful because we play as a team. We
do not focus on one or two
athletes to lead our team to
victory. All nine girls on our
rosters work well together
and when six are on the court
at a time, they function as
a system. One person does
not pick up the slack for others; they all carry their own
weight on the team. I have
always believed when those
on the court trust the person to their left and right,
those are the hardest teams
to stop because there is no
miscommunication, there is
no doubt that someone will do
their job; they trust the others. When you leave no room
for doubt in your teammates,

Sports

The Platteville Journal OCTOBER 7, 2015

Junior Caitlyn Gilbertson had 15 kills in Belmonts five-set

win over Shullsburg last Thursday night.

photo by Tom Gunnell / Republican Journal

a fever pitch at the end when

back-to-back block kills by
Gilbertson and senior Alie
Klien closed out a 2519 win
to even the match at 22.
The Miners opened up a
quick 30 to start the decisive
fifth set, and they were still
ahead 53 when Gilbertson
gave her team the serve with
a kill. Junior Maddie Rand
followed by serving up eight
consecutive points to turn a
one-point deficit into a 125
lead. Four different Belmont
players registered kills during the run, and four unforced
errors by Shullsburg aided
the rally.
The Miners used back-toback kills by Lexi Leifker and
Hattie Rennert to cut the gap
back to 127, but the Braves
went up 148 on a kill by
sophomore Briana Ernst and
Klein followed with a block
kill for the game-winner to
put the finishing touch on the
comeback.
I said in the huddle before
the fifth set started that this
is the third match in a row
were going five. I told them
we are winning this one, said
Wedig, whose team dropped
five-set decisions to Highland and Cassville in their
previous two league matches.
We had so much momentum
ending the fourth set and I
you leave little room for mistakes, which is exactly what
my team does.
Last Tuesday Stecklein had
eight kills and eight aces as
Platteville swept Dodgeville
2515, 2517, 2517.
Thursday, the Hillmen
overcame a slow start and an
early 85 game one deficit to
hammer host Lancaster 25
12, 2510, 258.
With back-to-back conference wins, Platteville improved to 80 in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference.
The Hillmen can claim the
outright SWC title Thursday
with a win at rival River Valley (294, 71). Platteville
defeated the eighth-ranked
Blackhawks, 31, on Sept. 15,
but Neal knows Thursdays
rematch is no gimme.
I think River Valley is going to have to work hard to
take us out of our system,
said Neal. We are a strong
all around team offensively
and defensively, but we do
struggle at times with our
serving. We will need to focus
on not missing serves and giving them free points. We are
aware we have to show up
ready to play but this team
can absolutely take the outright conference title if we
play as we should.
Platteville 3, Dodgeville 0

(from Tuesday, Sept. 29 @ Dodgeville)

Platteville.................................. 25 25 25
Dodgeville................................ 15 17 17
Platteville stat leaders

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think that carried over into

the fifth set.
Ernst finished with 18 kills
and six blocks for the Braves,
while Gilbertson tallied 15
kills. Rand led Belmont with
21 digs and three aces, and
setter Nikki Knebel guided
the offense by dishing out 39
assists.
It was nice to have all the
support from the community.
All the donations (to the Tipping for Tessa benefit) were
really great, Wedig said.
On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the
Braves rally against Cassville fell short with a 2523,
2325, 2527, 2520, 1015,
loss of their own.
Belmont will participate in
the North Crawford Volleyball Tournament in Soldiers
Grove on Saturday, Oct. 10,
starting at 9 a.m. The Braves
return to league play at River
Ridge on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Cassville 3, Belmont 2

(from Tuesday, Sept. 29 @ Cassville)

Belmont................. 25 23 25 25
10
Cassville................ 23 25 27 20 15
Belmont stat leaders
Kills: Briana Ernst 14, Kassandra Palzkill
10. Blocks: Caitlyn Gilbertson 6. Aces: Nikki
Knebel 4. Assists: Nikki Knebel 38. Digs:
Maddie Rand 30.

Belmont 3, Shullsburg 2

(from Thursday, Oct. 1 @ Belmont)

Shullsburg............. 25 25 20 19 8
Belmont................. 18 17 25 25
15
Belmont stat leaders
Kills: Briana Ernst 18, Caitlyn Gilbertson
15. Blocks: Ernst 6. Aces: Maddie Rand
3. Assists: Nikki Knebel 39. Digs: Maddie
Rand 21.

Kills: Morgan Stecklein 8, Claire Tashner 6, Allison Woodworth 4, Marissa Marino

5, Faye Bailie 5. Blocks: Bailie 2, Marino
2. Aces: Stecklein 8, Rachel Emendorfer 5,
Jenna Phillips 4. Assists: Rachel Emendorfer 13, Jenna Phillips 12. Digs: Emendorfer
5, Stecklein 3, Phillips 3.

Platteville 3, Lancaster 0

(from Thursday, Oct. 1 @ Lancaster)

Platteville.................................. 25 25 25
Lancaster................................. 12 10 8
Platteville stat leaders
Kills: Morgan Stecklein 10, Faye Bailie
5, Allison Woodworth 5, Maddie Carroll 4.
Blocks: Woodworth 1, Bailie 1, Claire Tashner 1. Aces: Jenna Phillips 5, Lexi Budden
4, Stecklein 4, Tashner 2. Assists: Rachel
Emendorfer 15, Jenna Phillips 8. Digs:
Stecklein 9, Budden 9, Marissa Marino 8.

Madison Edgewood
Invitational

(from Saturday, Oct. 3 @ Madison)

Championship: Platteville def. Madison
Edgewood 2519, 2516.
Semifinals: Platteville def. Waunakee
2514, 2511; Edgewood def. Madison Memorial.
Platteville pool play match scores
Platteville def. Beaver Dam 259, 256
Platteville def. Potosi 2511, 2519
Platteville def. Madison Memorial 2522,
2519
Platteville stat leaders
Kills: Morgan Stecklein 34, Allison Woodworth 19, Claire Tashner 16, Faye Bailie
13, Marissa Marino 11, Maddie Carroll 10.
Blocks: Woodworth 12, Tashner 9, Bailie 6.
Aces: Stecklein 21, Rachel Emendorfer 8,
Jenna Phillips 7, Tashner 6. Assists: Emendorfer 35, Phillips 27. Digs: Stecklein 36, Budden 26, Marino 25, Tashner 24, Phillips 23.

Connolly leads IG at Platteville

PLATTEVILLE Senior
Ben Connolly led the Iowa
Grant boys cross country team
Saturday at the 48th annual
Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational.
Connolly placed 61st overall and earned a ribbon with a
22nd place finish in the small
schools division with a time
of 18:47.
Junior William McLeer,
IGs top runner much of
the season, battled through
a nasty cold to finish 98th
overall and 37th in the small
schools division with a time
of 19:36
On the girls side, senior
Angela earned a ribbon with
a 30th-place finish the small
schools division at 23:18.
Last Thursday, the Panthers competed at the Kickapoo/La Farge Invitational.
48th Annual Dick McKichan
Platteville Invitational

(from Saturday, Oct. 3 @ Platteville)

(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Small school team scores: 1.Lancaster
55, 2.Albany 72, 3.Darlington 99, 4.Wisconsin
Heights/Barneveld 109, 5.Prairie du Chien
141, 6.New Glarus/Monticello 150, 7.Hillsboro 163, 8.Fennimore 180, 9.Belleville 181,
10.IowaGrant inc.
Top individuals: 1.Noelle Marie (Belleville) 19:04.7, 2.Brooke Lonigro (McFarland)

MAZOMANIE The
IowaGrant volleyball team
improved to 177 on the season after a second-place finish at Saturdays Wisconsin
Heights Invitational.
The Panthers went 31 on
the day at the five-team round
robin event with wins over
Boscobel, Monroe and Riverdale. The host Vanguards defeated IowaGrant, 2523,
2513, in the final match of
the day to win the team title.
Last Tuesday, junior Emma
Liddicoat had 17 kills to lead
the Panthers to a 2522,

Momot
u from page 12A
(40th, 21:59) joined Updike
as ribbon winners with top40 finishes.
McFarland easily won the
girls large schools team title
over runner-up Dodgeville/
Mineral Point 47106.
The Hillmen tuned up for

Milk Can
u from page 12A
again from five yards out just
over a minute later to put
the finishing touches on the
victory.
The Golden Eagles tacked
on a meaningless touchdown
with 33 seconds left to account for the final score.
Hill completed 5 of 12
passes for 88 yards in the
win. Price had two receptions for 62 yards and Campbell hauled in two passes for
15 yards.
This was IowaGrants seventh straight win over Fennimore. The Golden Eagles
last defeated the Panthers in
2008, 5119.
The neighboring rivals began playing for the Milk Can
traveling trophy in 1970. One

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Kickapoo/La Farge Invite

(from Thursday, Oct. 1 @ Kickapoo)

(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.North Crawford 42,
2.Richland Center/Ithaca 42, 3.New Lisbon 76,
97.IowaGrant 97, 99.Kickapoo/La Farge 99.
Top individuals: 1.Martha Bransky (NC)
21:27.69, 2.Willa Dworschack (NC) 21:29.55,
3.Catrina Johnson (New Lisbon) 21:51.69,
4.Janie Larse (RC/Ithaca) 22:23.15, 5.Angela
Melby (IowaGrant) 22:35.0.
IowaGrant: 5.Angela Melby 22:35.0,
12.Caitlyn Fowell 24:02.89, 26.Makayla Dicken
28:03.70, 30.Makenna Marshall 29:27.83,
32.Jamie Dilley 32:01.77.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.Kickapoo/La Farge 34,
2.Wauzeka/Steuben 62, 3.North Crawford
65, 4.IowaGrant 66, 5.New Lisbon inc.,
5.Richland Center/Ithaca inc.
Top individuals: 1.Mason Geary (K/L)
16:35.10, 2.Jacob Bransky (NC) 16:51.38,
3.Yevheniy Mizin (RC/Ithaca) 17:27.03, 4.Sebastian Koch (RC/Ithaca) 18:07.32, 5.Ben
Connolly (IowaGrant) 18:16.55.
IowaGrant: 5.Ben Connolly 18:16.55,
9.Paul Connolly 19:04.11, 15.Easton Dobson
19:32.31, 28.Jacob Soman 21:49.75, 32.Wyatt
Reeves 22:46.75, 34.Mason Moon 24:11.01,
38.Ben Amend 27:03.87.

Junior William McLeer battled through a cold to finish

98th overall and 37th in the
small schools division at
Saturdays Platteville Invitational.

Panthers improve to 177

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19:30.0, 3.Lydia Murphy (Lancaster) 19:31.6,

4.Ciara Kaderly (Albany) 19:49.7, 5.Taylor
Bluemel (Brodhead/Juda) 20:14.0.
IowaGrant (inc.): 77.Angela Melby 23:18,
118.Caitlyn Fowell 25:58, 131.Makayla Dicken
28:48, 132.Julia Cockroft 28:53.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Small school team scores: 1.Darlington
37, 2.Albany 65, 3.Lancaster 70, 4.New
Glarus/Monticello 146, 5.Wisconsin Heights/
Barneveld 153, 6.Hillsboro 164, 7.Prairie du
Chien 166, 8.Belleville 171, 9.IowaGrant 255,
10.Fennimore 263, 11.Wauzeka/Steuben 277,
12.Pecatonica/Argyle 360.
Top individuals: 1.Vince Momot (Platteville) 16:19.5, 2.Christopher Pahnke (McFarland) 16:23.8, 3.Nathaniel Langlei (Edgewood)
16:24.9, 4.Dustin Hatfield (River Valley)
16:33.2, 5.Jaden Komprood (Darlington)
16:38.3.
IowaGrant (255): 61.(22).Ben Connolly
18:47, 98.(37).William McLeer 19:36, 115.(44).
Easton Dobson 20:11, 157.(75).Jacob Soman
22:43, 159.(77).Wyatt Reeves 22:54.

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2624, 2521 sweep of visiting Darlington.

Last Thursday, SWAL-leading Southwestern swept the
Panthers 2519, 2516, 26
24. IowaGrant is now 44 in
conference play.
IowaGrant 3, Darlington 0

(from Tuesday, Sept. 29 @ Livingston)

Darlington................................. 22 24 21
IowaGrant............................... 25 26 25
IowaGrant stat leaders
Kills: Emma Liddicoat 17, Jessica Pluemer 6. Blocks: Pluemer 4. Aces: Haley
Yelinek 2, E. Liddicoat 2. Assists: Taylor
Liddicoat 28. Digs: Haley Yelinek 21, E. Liddicoat 6.

Southwestern 3,
IowaGrant 0

(from Thursday, Oct. 1 @ Hazel Green)

Saturdays Platteville Invite with an SWC shortened

4,000-meter triple dual with
Dodgeville/Mineral Point
and Prairie du Chien last
Tuesday.
Platteville returns to action
Saturday at the Albany Invitational before traveling to
Richland Center for the SWC
Conference Championships
on Thursday, Oct. 15.
half of the vintage aluminum
milk can is painted red with a
black Panther logo. The other
half is maroon with a gold eagle sprawled across the can
and the scores of each meeting since 1970 are painted
down the sides of the trophy.
The Panthers now hold a
3313 edge in the Milk Can
series.
With the win, IowaGrant
also clinched a playoff spot
for the eighth straight season.
We try not to get wrapped
up in those things, said Allen. Our main focus is improving this week so we play
better than we did last week.
The Panthers will host
Cuba City (61, 41) this
Friday.

IowaGrant.......................... 19 16 24
Southwestern...................... 25 25
26
IowaGrant stat leaders
Kills: Emma Liddicoat 10, Maranda McCartney 4, Mariah Ginter 4. Blocks: Taylor
Liddicoat 3. Aces: Kristin Bingham 2. Assists: Taylor Liddicoat 23. Digs: Haley Yelinek 10, McCarthy 7, E. Liddicoat 6.

Wisconsin Heights
Invitational

(from Saturday, Oct. 3 @ Wisc. Heights)

Standings: Wisconsin Heights 40,
IowaGrant 31, Riverdale 22, Monroe 13,
Boscobel 04.
IowaGrant match scores
IowaGrant def. Boscobel 2513, 2518
IowaGrant def. Monroe 2511, 2520
IowaGrant def. Riverdale 2523, 2513
Wisconsin Heights def. IowaGrant 25
17, 2519
IowaGrant stat leaders
Kills: Emma Liddicoat 23, Maranda McCarthy 11, Mariah Ginter 6, Elana Winders 6.
Blocks: Ginter 12, Jessica Pluemer 9, Winders 6. Aces: Taylor Liddicoat 3, E. Liddicoat
3, Pluemer 3. Assists: T. Liddicoat 60. Digs:
Haley Yelinek 35, E. Liddicoat 25, McCarthy
12.

SWC Triple Dual

(from Tuesday, Sept. 22 @ Platteville)

(Girls, 4,000 meters)
Team scores: Dodgeville/Mineral Point 23,
Platteville 32
Platteville 23, Prairie du Chien
Platteville: 3.Brelynn Updike 16:40, 5.Morgan Wehnke 16:58, 8.Maggie Durni 17:21,
11.Julia Kasper 17:47, 13.Grace Hammermeister 18:08, 14.Cori Kettler 18:08, 17.Abby
Wein 18:41.
(Boys, 4,000 meters)
Team scores: Platteville 19, Dodgeville/
Mineral Point 36
Platteville 19, Prairie du Chien 43
Platteville: 1.Vince Momot 13:08, 2.Dan
Iselin 13:16, 5.Jace Serres 14:03, 6.Blake
Julius 14:13, 9.Tom Lambert 14:26, 14.Calvin
Wernimont 14:53, 15.Jackson Gormley 15:08.

Cuba City is very good,

added Allen. They are well
coached and they have good
athletes. We will need to play
well.
IowaGrant 22,
Fennimore 12

(from Friday, Oct. 1 @ Fennimore)

IowaGrant.................. 0 0 7 15 22
Fennimore................... 0 6 0 6 12
Second quarter
F: Trefz 4 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
IG: Brayden Johnson 11 run (Acea Upmann good)
Fourth quarter
IG: Johnson 3 run (Johnson run)
IG: Johnson 5 run (Upmann good)
F: J. Williams 30 pass from W/ Williams
(conversion failed)
Team Statistics
First downs IG 17, F 12. Rushing IG
47-204, F 32-96. Passing IG 5-12-0, 88; F
9-18-1, 126. Fumbleslost IG 0-0, F 1-1.
Penalties-yards IG 5-25, F 3-19.
Individual Statistics
Rushing IG: Brayden Johnson 34-175; F:
Henkel 3-37. Passing IG: Caleb Hill 5-12-0,
88; F: J. Williams 9-18-1, 126. Receiving
IG: Collin Price 2-62, Zach Campbell 2-15; F:
Henkel 5-58.