Prep volleyball: River Falls holds off Chippewa Falls in 5 sets to return to state
Oct. 31—CHIPPEWA FALLS — The Chippewa Falls volleyball team pushed its rival to the limit, but it wasn't quite enough to earn its first trip to the state tournament.
The Cardinals fell to River Falls in five sets in the Division 1 sectional finals on Saturday, seeing a landmark season come to an end one game shy of state. The Wildcats outlasted Chippewa Falls 15-12 in the decisive set.
Chi-Hi only lost three matches all year. All three were against the Wildcats. Saturday played out nothing like the first two — which ended in sweeps — but it still wasn't quite enough against a team which will make its sixth consecutive trip to state.
"To come back from two and a half weeks ago when we went to River Falls and got knocked down pretty hard, to this in the sectional final, it was the best experience," Chi-Hi coach Luke Heidtke said. "Does it hurt to lose? Yeah, but I think they'll look back at our season and think 'We went 37-3? How cool is that?' They're just a great group of kids."
The Big Rivers rivals split the first two sets before the Wildcats took a 2-1 lead by winning the third. But with their backs to the wall, the Cardinals came up with a 25-22 victory in the fourth set to force a winner-take-all scenario in the fifth.
The Wildcats started the fifth on a hot streak, taking five of the first seven points. They never looked back, although the Cardinals made it close by the end.
"When you get to a fifth set, it's really just a crapshoot," Heidtke said. "It's 15 points, it's short and fast. One play can really turn the momentum. We started out slow there, not really because of anything on our end, but sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way. I think that's what happened."
Ultimately, River Falls did enough to return to state for the sixth season in a row. But it wasn't easy, even if the first two meetings between the programs were straightforward.
"At the (UW-Stout) Sprawl at the beginning of the year, it was at a tournament site, which is just kind of weird to play in that environment," River Falls coach Sara Kealy said. "Last time we played them was at home, and they gave us such a good first set, 25-23. I think that emotionally that's hard, to know that 'I was right there and couldn't finish it,' so that matchup ended pretty fast. But I knew playing here, it would be a totally different story."
Chippewa Falls was playing in the sectional finals for the first time since 2013. The Cardinals won 37 matches in a banner year for the program and built around a young core that has set the stage well for its future.
"I think it just shows that they truly believed in themselves, and that's the first step," Heidtke said. "I told them after the match: We didn't finish and get the win, but you guys are doing so much for this program and you don't even know it. Even aside from going 37-3, there are little girls in the stands going 'I want to be a Chi-Hi volleyball player.' And that's how you start building programs, is by having seasons like we did. All credit to them."
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River Falls 3, Chippewa Falls 2
River Falls def. Chippewa Falls 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12.
