Lady Pirates win twice
The Prairie Lady Pirates won their final two regular season matches and wound up as the third seed going into the District tournament.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13 they beat Genesee in 4 games and on Thursday, Oct. 15 they swept Highland on Senior Night.
In their 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-21 win over Genesee, Prairie followed the same script from the night before against Potlatch. Lose a close first game then win 3 straight.
With the win Prairie ended their league schedule with a 9-5 record. With Potlatch losing to Troy on Tuesday and Genesee on Wednesday, the best the Loggers could do was tie Prairie for third with Prairie holding the tiebreaker. Both teams ended league play with 9-5 records.
In the opening game Prairie fell behind 1-4 and 2-6 but rebounded to take an 8-7 lead on a kill by Jade Prigge. Prairie fell behind again but took back the lead at 11-10 and again at 12-11. A block by Prigge and a kill be Ellea Uhlenkott made it 14-11.
Prairie twice equaled that 3 point margin at 16-13 and 17-14. Genesee then scored 5 straight for a 17-18 lead. Prairie led again at 20-19 and then were tied at 20-20 and 21-21 before Genesee took the lead for good and went on to win by 3.
Prairie fell behind again in the second game but turned things around on Delanie Lockett’s second service turn of the game.
A sideout kill by Tara Schlader made it 10-12 and then Lockett served Prairie to an 18-12 lead. She had 3 aces while Madison Shears had 2 kills. Ellea Uhlenkott added a block and a kill and Hope Schwartz scored a kill.
Genesee finally got her off the service line but then served it into the net. Uhlenkott served an ace and a kill by Shears made it 21-13.
Genesee scored 2 points before netting another serve. A first touch kill by Laney Forsmann made it 23-15. After a Genesee sideout, Schlader made a touch dig with Shears making the set and Prigge the kill to get to game point.
A dig of a spike by Prigge then went to Lockett who tipped the ball to an open spot for the game winner.
Genesee shook off the loss and roared out to a 3-9 lead in the third game before another missed serve got them.
Prairie was able to cut the margin to 2 points several times but each time would fall back. At 17-22 Schlader scored a sideout kill and then served an ace. A kill by Prigge and another ace cut the lead to 21-22.
Genesee scored a sideout but Prigge scored a kill to put Shears on the service line. A net violation against Genesee tied the game and an ace by Shears gave Prairie their first lead of the game. There was a disputed call on what looked like a game-winning ace the led to a replay. Schlader then got the game-winning kill to put Prairie up 2 games to 1.
Prairie took the early lead in game 4 as Lockett had another good service run that turned a 2-1 lead into a 6-1 lead. She had 2 aces to make it 4-1. On the next point Lockett made a great save of what looked like a Genesee point that led to a kill by Shears. A kill by Uhlenkott make it 6-1.
Genesee got within 3 several times but couldn’t get any closer as Prairie would score a big sideout each time.
Forsmann won a joust at the net that got Prairie to match point at 24-20. Genesee scored a sideout but Schlader then scored the match-winning point on a block.
It was the first time they had beaten Genesee since the 2018 District Tournament, a win that qualified them for State that year.
For the match Schlader had 16 kills, including 2 blocks, plus 20 assists and 3 aces. Lockett had 12 kills, 3 assists and 6 aces and was 23 for 24 at the service line. Shears had 11 kills, 5 assists and 1 ace. Prigge had 9 kills, including a block and 2 assists. Forsmann had 8 kills, including 2 blocks. Uhlenkott had 5 kills, including a block, plus 4 aces. Schwartz had 3 kills, 17 assists and 3 aces. Sierra McWilliams had 2 kills, 2 assists and 1 ace.
The JV team swept all 3 games 25-21, 25-20, 15-10 and we don’t remember the last time, if ever, that happened against Genesee.  Prairie beat Genesee in a JV match as recently as last year but it was 2 games to 1.
Prairie fell behind 1-6 in the opening game but came back to tie it at 10-10 before falling behind again. They finally took their first lead on an ace by Kristin Wemhoff that made it 15-14.
They took the lead for good when Genesee missed a serve that made it 18-17. Riley Enneking followed with 2 kills and Wemhoff added one for a 21-17 lead.
Prairie then held off Genesee with Julia Rehder serving an ace for the game-winning point.
Wemhoff served Prairie to a 2-0 lead in the second game on an ace plus a kill by Enneking.
Genesee took their first lead after an ace at 9-10 but Ali Rehder scored on a free ball to tie it at 10-10 and Key scored a kill for the lead.
4 lead changes and 6 ties followed. The last tie came at 20-20 with Enneking scoring the kill that put Prairie up for good. Ali Rehder followed with an ace and Enneking added 2 more kills to get to match point. Rehder then had her serve it the net and drop over for the game-winning ace.
In game 3 Key scored a sideout kill on a tip and Ali Rehder then made it 13 straight winning points at the service line over 2 games as she served Prairie to a 9-0 lead. She had 3 aces with Wemhoff scoring 2 kills. Isabella Walsh, Julia Rehder and Key each added a kill.
Genesee tried to rally back and cut the lead down to 3 at 13-10 before serving one wide. Taylor Riener then served the match-ending ace.
The C team got swept 22-25, 20-25, 14-16.
It was a raucous night on the Pirates ship with senior night, Think Pink night and the first time we’ve ever seen Prairie cheerleaders at a volleyball match. Highland never stood a chance as Prairie won in straight sets 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 to finish the regular season.
Prior to the match seniors Madison Shears, Ellea Uhlenkott, Hope Schwartz, Sierra McWilliams and Halle Klapprich were honored. Klapprich, who was injured early in the season in an auto accident, was named as a starter and took her place at middle blocker in the front row before being subbed out before play actually started.
Prairie never trailed in the entire match although Highland made it close late in the third game.
Lockett opened the match with 2 kills and Schwartz added an ace for a 3-0 lead.
Highland came back with 2 points but Uhlenkott scored a kill and Prairie gradually pulled away as they never could get more that 2 or 3 points in a row.  Uhlenkott wound up scoring the game winning kill.
In the second game Schwartz served 4 straight aces to open the game. Highland countered with 3 straight points to pull within 1 but a kill each by Schlader and Shears and an ace by Lockett pushed the lead back to 4 at 7-3.
Highland got back within 2 at 8-6 before Schlader scored a sideout kill and then went back to serve. She served 7 straight points to break the game open. She started with an ace and then it was all hitters. Schlader scored on a push then Forsmann and Shears each won jousts at the net. Prigge scored a pair of kills and McWilliams scored a back row kill to make it 16-6.
Highland was able to rally back within 3 at 20-18 before a kill by Schlader sent Lockett to the service line. Lockett served 3 straight aces and then Uhlenkott scored the game-winning kill when she tipped the ball past the blockers.
In the third game Schwartz scored a game opening kill and then served Prairie to a 5-0 lead. She had 3 aces and scored a kill on a push deep to the corner.
Highland rallied back though and managed to tie the game at 10-10.  A back row kill by Kristin Wassmuth put Prairie back on top for good although Highland cut the lead to 1 on 4 more occasions, the last time at 16-15.
At that point McWilliams scored a back row kill to send Schlader to the service line for a 5-point run. She had an ace while Shears, Forsmann and Prigge each had a kill and Shears and Forsmann combined on a block for a 22-15 lead.
Uhlenkott wound up scored the match-winning kill as Prairie won by 8.
Schlader had 11 kills in the match with 15 assists and 2 aces. Prigge had 8 kills. Schwartz had 7 kills, 17 assists and 8 aces. Shears had 6 kills, including a block with 5 assists and an ace. Uhlenkott had 6 kills. Forsmann and 6 kills, including a block. Lockett had 5 kills, 5 assists and 5 aces. McWilliams had 4 kills, 2 assists and 2 aces. Wemhoff had 1 kill.
Prairie ends their regular season with a 13-5 record, 9-5 in league play.
The JV team also swept Highland in their final match of the season 25-17, 25-5, 15-7.
In the opening game Olivia Klapprich and Ali Rehder each had a 4-point service run that turned a 3-3 tie into a 12-5 lead. Klapprich had 2 aces with Julia and Ali Rehder each adding a kill. In Rehder’s run she had 3 aces after Julia Rehder scored on a kill.
Highland pulled back within 3 before a 3 point run by Key enabled Prairie to push the lead to 8 at 20-12. The two team played it even after that as Prairie won by 8 with Julie Rehder scoring the game-winning kill.
Ali Rehder served Prairie to a 5-0 lead in the second game. Key opened the game with a kill and Rehder followed with 3 aces with Riener adding a kill.
After 4 straight sideouts, Reiner served 6 straight points to make it 13-2. She had 3 aces with Enneking scoring 2 kill and Julia Rehder adding 1.
It was 18-5 when Klapprich took over at the service line and finished the game. She had 3 aces while Kay had 3 kills and Walsh added a kill.
Highland never scored a point in the game while they were serving. All 5 points came on sideouts.
In the final game Prairie scored the first point on a kill by Wemhoff but Highland then took a 1-5 lead.
That ended on a kill by Riener and Key then served Prairie to a 10-5 lead. She had 2 aces with Walsh and Enneking scoring 2 kills each while Wemhoff and Riener added 1 each.
Highland scored the next 3 points before Key scored a kill on a service dig. Riener then served out the match. Julia Rehder scored a kill. Riener had an ace. Enneking had a kill and Riener finished it with another ace.
The C team won the first 2 games then lost the third.