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The Cardinal girls vollleybal lost the first two sets so Fond du Lac head coach Emily Riese spent a few moments before the third set talking to senior setter Emily Thompson. It was just a little reminder that Thompson is the cog that makes the balanced Cardinal offense hum. “After the first two (sets), we had a conversation with her and just said, ‘You have to be better. You have to make things work with the hitters,’” Riese said. “That’s what she did.”
Fond du Lac came out firing in the third set and never looked back, storming to a 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 15-8 win over Hortonville in a Fox Valley Association volleyball match on Tuesday night. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 3-0 in league play and matched their conference win total from last season.
And it all started with Thompson. “Something just clicked with our team and Emily was setting better and was mixing it up in the third, fourth and fifth set,” Riese said of the comeback. “I think that’s what got our hitters going.”
Not only did the Cardinals finish the match strong, they were dominant in the latter stages of the third and fourth sets to get back into the match. Fond du Lac scored seven of the final eight points in the third set to first extend the match.
Two kills by Ava Tryon, another from Megan Wendt and an ace from Grace Osborn stretched Fond du Lac’s lead to 22-15. Monica Dreifuerst notched a kill to get the Cardinals to set point then before Thompson scored the final point when tipped down an over-pass by the Polar Bears.
In the fourth set, the Cardinals trailed 14-13 but scored 12 of the next 14 points to close out the win and even the match.
Brooke Voight and Maggie Stelmacher each had long service stretches in the latter stages of the set, while Megan Wendt rattled off four of her team-high 14 kills during that span. Tryon added nine kills and Lauren Wendt chipped in eight as once again Fond du Lac showcased its balance on the attack. “It’s awesome to be able to go to whoever and count on them to put the ball away,” said Thompson, who finished with 41 assists, including reaching the 1,000 career assist milestone. “We just had to pick our energy up and start putting balls away.”
Dreifuerst opened the fifth set with a kill, Thompson followed with an ace and Fond du Lac never trailed in the decisive set. Hortonville did trim the gap to 9-7 with back-to-back points but hit the next serve into the net to give Fond du Lac another point and Dreifuerst and Lauren Wendt followed with kills.
Tryon’s ace gave the Cardinals a 13-7 lead and Fond du Lac would close out the win after a Hortonville sideout, with Megan Wendt getting the final point on a spike. Tryon added nine kills and three blocks, while Lauren Wendt added eight kills. Thompson also chipped in three aces, while Maggie Stelmacher registered a team-high 19 digs.
It all added up to another win for the Cardinals – who face powerhouse Neenah on Thursday – and left them feeling pretty good with the 3-0 start. “We knew what we had to do,” Lauren Wendt said. “We’ve played together with each other since we were little kids and it’s just our time.”