By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
In a season full of dominating performances, it was maybe a five-set loss that turned into a highlight for the Big Foot girls volleyball team.
Even in defeat in the title match of Saturday’s Rock Valley Conference Tournament, the Chiefs showed they belonged with the state’s elite.
And now it’s on to the postseason – and what the Chiefs hope is a return trip to the state tournament.
Big Foot swept through its first three matches before it battled the state’s top-ranked Division 2 squad, East Troy, right to the finish in a five-set loss to finish second overall.
“It was a real great showing for Big Foot, the best for us this year for sure,” Big Foot coach Jen Stelling said. “That was the start of our postseason in this tournament. … We took care of a lot of our errors and just played a lot more consistently.”
The Chiefs, ranked fifth in Division 2, improved to 40-3 overall Tuesday night with an easy three-set win over 16th-seeded Beloit Turner in a Division 2 regional opener.
On Saturday, Big Foot defeated Evansville 25-4, 25-9 and Jefferson 25-10, 25-16 in the first two rounds, followed by a 25-19, 25-11 win over McFarland to advance to the finals.
“It was really important for us to play well against McFarland, the two seed in our sectional,” Stelling said. “We definitely wanted to show them that we deserved the one seed.”
In that match with East Troy, the Chiefs fell 25-21, 14-25, 25-18, 22-25, 12-15.
Even in defeat, Stelling was pleased to see her team fight the talented Trojans for every point.
“It was a great battle,” she said. “Coming into it, I really wasn’t sure how we would match up. We definitely out-played my expectations. We played excellent defense.”
Stelling said her team had a chance for the upset, especially in the fourth set.
“We really should have won game four,” she said. “Offensively, we just struggled picking up some of their tips in game four.”
Statistical leaders for Big Foot included Sydney Racky with 11 aces and 36 kills; Mikaela Lagerhausen with 3.5 blocks; Katarina Rotta with 86 assists; Mackenzie Long with 47 digs; Kristen Glade and Maggie Kivlin with 10 aces; and Amy Schryver with 32 kills, three blocks and 33 digs.
The win Tuesday night sent the Chiefs to a regional semifinal contest Thursday against visiting Monroe. The Cheesemakers defeated host Delavan-Darien in four sets.
The regional final is set for Saturday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.
Stelling is confident her team is ready to make another deep run – and possibly match up with East Troy yet again if both teams can advance all the way to the state finals.
“We’re definitely ready to go the distance again,” she said. “I thought this weekend would be a turning point to see where we stacked up against East Troy. I’m confident if (both of us) can make it there, we would see them again in the state finals. It would be a heck of a rematch.”
Chiefs win finale
Big Foot closed its regular season last week with a 25-20, 25-10, 25-23 RVC win over host Parkview.
The win secured a third straight season the Chiefs ran through the conference schedule without losing a set.
Leading the way were Schryver with three aces, 17 digs and 11 kills; Racky with eight kills; Long with six aces; Kivlin with four aces; and Rotta with 17 assists.
