Mounder netters finish season with sweep of Boyceville Bulldogs
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DIGGING UP A MILESTONE — Elk Mound junior McKenna Diermeier is shown getting a dig during an October 29 volleyball match in Boyceville. Diermeier registered the 1,000th dig of her high school career when the Mounders hosted the Bulldogs on Tuesday night, October 27. The Mounders won both matches. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
After being eliminated from the WIAA tournament the previous week, the Elk Mound volleyball squad wrapped up the 2020 season, which will long be remembered as the year of the coronavirus pandemic, this past week by sweeping home and away matches against Dunn-St. Croix foe, the Bulldogs of Boyceville.
Conference teams were allowed to finish out the final week of October with a pair of games if they had been eliminated from tournament play the week prior. So when both the Mounders and Bulldogs lost their opening contests of regional play, the schools both agreed to close out the season with a pair of matches against one another.
In a match played at home last Tuesday, October 27, the Lady Mounders prevailed in straight sets 25-23, 25-17 and 25-16. Elk Mound completed the sweep two days later as it caged the Bulldogs on their home court in four sets, claiming a 3-1 victory by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-19 and 25-20.
The two wins gave the Mounders a final overall record of 10-3 and 10-2 in conference contests.
Last week’s action also saw junior McKenna Diermeier reach a special milestone as she recorded the 1,000th dig of her high school career in Tuesday’s match against the Bulldogs. Diermeier notched 15 of her team’s 42 digs in that contest to surpass the noteworthy benchmark. She then added 25 more digs in Thursday’s road win to bring her season total to 239 digs in just 13 matches.
Home Win
Following a tight two-point (25-23) win over Boyceville in the opening set, Elk Mound took control in the next two sets winning 25-17 and 26-16 to earn the three-set sweep over the Bulldogs in a match played in the Mounders’ gymnasium last Tuesday, October 27.
Besides registering her 1,00th kill during the match, Diermeier posted 12 of the Mounders’ 29 kills, 16 service receptions and a pair of aces in the win at home. Sophomore Stella Rhude was credited with 8 kills and a solo block; junior Issie Hollister had 21 service receptions and added 10 digs and a pair of aces, and sophomore Tori Blaskowski led the team with 21 of its 25 assists.
Road Victory
Traveling to Boyceville on Thursday, October 29 to close out the season, the Mounders finished on a high note as they won in four sets.
Taking the opening set in Boyceville 25-21, the Mounders were looking for another three-set sweep. But the Bulldogs had other ideas and rallied to take the second set 22-25.
A scrappy Bulldogs’ squad stayed close in the next two sets but Elk Mound was able to prevail in both, winning by scores of 25-19 and 25-20.
Diermeier added another 25 digs to her ever-growing tally as the Mounders finished with 88 digs in all. Diermeier also tallied 17 of the Mounders’ 31 kills, had 19 of the team’s 43 service receptions and a pair of aces. Stella Rhude chipped in for 7 kills while sophomores Amanda Fischer, Lauren Garnett and Gracie Carlton each had 3 kills; Garnett and Carlton each registered a pair of solo blocks.
Tori Blaskowski was responsible for 27 of the team’s 30 assists and had six ace serves in the match.
