Eagles win Westfield Invite

There are still three weeks until girls volleyball teams begin their postseason. But the way Sauk Prairie is trending, it will be a tough out when tournament season arrives. The Eagles won the Westfield Invite Saturday, going 4-0 and playing some of its best volleyball of the year. Sauk Prairie defeated Markesan in the title game, 25-20, 25-18. “We are still improving and are starting to play some exciting volleyball,” Eagles coach Amy Schlimgen said. “Now we just need to have the confidence in ourselves and that ‘refuse to lose’ attitude.” That attitude was certainly on display during the Westfield Invite. Sauk Prairie began the day with a 25-18, 25-23 win over Royall. Olivia Breunig led the Eagles with nine kills, seven assists and two saves, while Aida Shadewald had eight kills, three aces and 11 digs. Ainsley Apel had 14 digs, Kaitlyn Brickl had 11 digs, Madison Pertzborn had three blocks, Maddy Setterlund added two blocks, Olivia Paukner had three kills and two blocks, and Jenna Pistono had seven assists and five digs. Sauk Prairie then rallied past Wrightstown, 20-25, 25-8, 15-9. Shadewald led the way with 15 kills, two aces, 13 digs and two blocks, while Breunig had nine kills and eight assists. Apel had 14 digs, Brickl added 11 digs, Paukner had four kills, and two blocks, and Pistono had 11 assists and six digs. That lifted the Eagles into first place in their pool and placed them in the Gold Bracket. There, Sauk Prairie rolled over host Westfield, 25-12, 25-12. Shadewald finished with six kills and four aces, while Paukner had five kills. Breunig had four kills, two aces and three assists, Apel had 11 digs and two aces, Pistono had six assists, Brickl had two aces and five digs, and Grace Breunig added three digs. Sauk Prairie then rolled past Markesan to win the title. Breunig had a huge match with 11 kills and 14 assists. “Olivia Breunig was almost physically hurting our opponents with her hits,” Schlimgen said. Shadewald added nine kills and 10 digs, while Apel had six digs and did a terrific job receiving serves. Brickl had six digs and served extremely well, Pistono had 11 assists and four digs, Paukner had three kills, Lauren Wideen had four kills and Pertzborn added one kill. Reedsburg also defeated the Eagles, 26-24, 21-25, 25-21, last Thursday. “It was very disappointing because we were actually up 24-22 in the first set and couldn’t finish strong enough to win that set,” Schlimgen said. “After that, we just made too many unforced errors and could not stop their two big hitters.” Breunig finished with 15 kills, 10 assists and three aces, while Shadewald had 10 kills and two aces. Apel had 23 digs and Pertzborn had three block kills. Wideen added two blocks, Pistono had 10 assists, Paukner had three kills, two aces and one block, Hannah Kruckman added two kills and Brickl added nine digs. TENNIS Sauk Prairie’s girls tennis team finished seventh at the Badger Conference tournament held last Friday and Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Eagles’ No. 1 singles player Quinlyn Mack reached the semifinals, then suffered losses to girls from Monona Grove and Beaver Dam and settled for fourth place. Jordan O’Connor, who plays, No. 3 singles, reached the semifinals and finished in third place. And in doubles, the tandem of Emily Querio and Grace Fauerbach finished third at No. 3 doubles. Girls tennis BADGER CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT Nielsen Tennis Stadium Tournament standings — Monona Grove 34; Beaver Dam 33; Madison Edgewood 29; Waunakee 24; DeForest 20; Watertown 20; Sauk Prairie 18; Oregon 17; Stoughton 8; Monroe 6; Milton 4; Fort Atkinson 2; Baraboo 2; Portage 0; Reedsburg 0. Badger North dual standings — Beaver Dam 6-0; Sauk Prairie 5-1; Waunakee 4-2; DeForest 3-3; Baraboo 1-5; Portage, Reedsburg 1-5. Combined final Badger North standings — Beaver Dam 12; Waunakee 9; Sauk Prairie 8; DeForest 7; Baraboo 2; Portage 1.5; Reedsburg 1.5. Badger South dual standings — Madison Edgewood 7-0; Monona Grove 6-1; Watertown 5-2; Oregon 4-3; Stoughton 3-4; Monroe 2-5; Milton 1-6; Fort Atkinson 0-7. Combined final Badger South standings — Madison Edgewood, Monona Grove 13; Watertown 10; Oregon 8; Milton, Stoughton 3; Monroe 2; Milton 5. No. 1 singles Championship: Deang, ME, def. Munz, MG, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Third place: Nelson, BD, def. Mack, SP, 6-3, 6-1. Semifinals: Deang def. Nelson, 7-5, 6-3; Munz def. Mack, 6-0, 6-3. No. 2 singles Championship: Lindwall, MG, def. Armstrong, D, 6-4, 6-2. Third place: Gragg, Or, def. Halverson, Sto, 7-5, 7-6 (3). Semifinals: Lindwall def. Gragg, 6-2, 6-3; Armstrong def. Halverson, 6-2, 6-1. No. 3 singles Championship: Dziedzic, MG, def. Smith, BD, 6-2, 6-1. Third place: O’Connor, SP, def. Harkin, ME, 6-3, 6-4. Semifinals: Dziedzic def. O’Connor, 6-0, 6-1; Smith def. Harkin, 6-4, 6-4. No. 4 singles Championship: Lee, MG, def. Loomans, Wau, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Third place: Klawitter, BD, vs. Krakow, Wtn, 6-0, 6-1. Semifinals: Lee def. Klawitter, 6-3, 6-1; Loomans def. Krakow, 6-3, 6-1. No. 1 doubles Championship: C. Fuchs/S. Fuchs, D, def. Ripp/Sowinski, Wau, 6-1, 6-0. Third place: Kiesow/Budde, BD, def. Christensen/Tostrud, Mon, 6-2, 6-4. Semifinals: C. Fuchs/S. Fuchs def. Christensen/Tostrud, 6-0, 6-0; Ripp/Sowinski def. Kiesow/Budde, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. No. 2 doubles Championship: Connaughty/Okon, BD, def. Baneck/Wesemann, Wtn, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Third place: Wallhaus/O’Gara, ME, def. Zabel/Endres, Wau. Semifinals: Baneck/Wesemann, Wtn, def. Wallhaus/O’Gara, ME, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Connaughty/Okon def. Zabel/Endres, 0-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5). No. 3 doubles Championship: Shanahan/Dunn, ME, def. Rogers/Statz, Wau, 7-5, 6-4. Third place: Querio/Fauerbach, SP, def. Mikkelson/Wirtz, Or, 6-4, 7-5. Semifinals: Rogers/Statz def. Mikkelson/Wirtz, 6-2, 6-2; Shanahan/Dunn def. Querio/Fauerbach, 6-0, 6-1.