2022 title is Wolves’ first in its co-op history

The Elmwood/Plum City Wolves capped ou their best regular season in more than a decade with a 3-1 victory in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference championship game on the road against Spring Valley on Thursday, Oct. 13.

The conference championship is the first in more than a dozen years for Elmwood/Plum ity and is the first in co-op history since the two schools joined together to become the Wolves. Entering the game, both Elmwood/ Plum City and Spring Valley had undefeated (6-0) records in Dunn-St. Croix action.

For years, Colfax and Elk Mound amassed piles of conference championship trophies while Elmwood/Plum City and Spring Valley struggled to get anywhere near the top of the league. However, both teams spent the last two years building rosters around strong senior classes that culminated in Thursday’s rivalry game with even higher stakes – the conference title.

For Elmwood/Plum City head coach Amanda Webb, Thursday night was a payou four years in the making for her senior class. She spoke about winning the conference championship.

“Tonight was amazing and it was fun to watch the kids work together as a team and never give up. We had a little lull like we always do, but they fought through,” Webb said. “They work together and they communicate. This core group of kids have been working together since middle school with my seven seniors and our sophomore.”

The Wolves’ seven seniors were the driving force in the conference championship victory on Thursday against Spring Valley. Perhaps no senior had a greater impact than setter Lily Webb, who orchestrated the Wolves’ ouense to perfection throughout the four-set victory.

Although Spring Valley grabbed a 9-8 lead in the first set, the Wolves strung together a small scoring run that culminated in a 12-10 lead which forced a timeout by Spring Valley head coach Kelli Schlegel.

Elmwood/Plum City continued to roll throughout the second set. Strong passing by the aforementioned Lily Webb provided copious scoring opportunities for the Wolves’ outside hitters, which they capitalized on to secure a 25-18 opening-set victory. The Wolves took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five se ries.

Spring Valley had a chance to even up the series in the second set, especially after the Cardinals took a 16-12 lead which forced a timeout by EPC coach Amanda Webb. However, the Wolves responded with a scoring rally that culminated in a 25-22 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Spring Valley bounced back with a 25-23 victory in the third set to extend it to a fourth set. That’s when the Wolves closed out the conference championship with a 25-18 victory in the fourth set to secure the 3-1 series win and the first conference title in well over a decade.

The Wolves’ ouense proved to be too much for Spring Valley to handle. Lily Webb set the pins perfectly throughout the night and the Cardinals just didn’t have an answer for it. Amanda Webb spoke about Lily Webb’s performance on Thursday night.

“We focused on our passing so that we could be successful with the attack at the net,” Amanda Webb said. “We utilized that tonight. (Lily Webb) runs our ouense. She touches every ball that comes over and she’s been a phenomenal four-year leader. We’re going to miss that next year. It’s priceless that we have that right now.”

While Elmwood/Plum City celebrated its best season in well over a decade, coach Schlegel and Spring Valley were left doing some self-analysis after the loss. She spoke about what went wrong against the Wolves.

“We definitely didn’t play to our potential,” Schlegel said. “The conversion, in the beginning, was about not playing soft or scared, you’ve got to give 100% all of the time. This late in the season, you need all your guns and everyone to show up and it’s hard when they don’t.”

Elmwood/Plum City scored most of its points by using good passing to set up outside scoring opportunities by attacking the net. Spring Valley struggled to get into good positions and get quality attacks at the net. Schlegel spoke about not generating enough scoring opportunities.

“It started with our passing,” Schlegel said. “When Phoebe (Vodnik) is coming ou ten feet every time to try to get them to the net, that’s hard as a setter.”

Spring Valley’s loss in the conference championship game was certainly frustrating, but the season isn’t over. The Cardinals received the #5 seed in their respective section of the WIAA Division 3 playou bracket. Schlegel spoke about the upcoming playous.

“It’s just constantly talking about climbing up that hill and unfortunately today was hard, but it’s not over,” Schlegel said. “It’s not our last home game either. We haven’t had a first-round home game in a while. Everyone needs to step up to the plate.”

Spring Valley will host the #12 seed Osseo-Fairchild on Tuesday, Oct. 18. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

While Spring Valley will compete in the Division 3 bracket, Elmwood/Plum City will look to tackle the Division 4 bracket. The Wolves received the #1 seed in their respective section and will have a home-court advantage until neutral-site play begins.

For head coach Amanda Webb, this is a special roster that is capable of making noise in the playous. She spoke about the upcoming WIAA tournament.

“We’ve got the #1 seed and we’ve got a bye on Tuesday,” Amanda Webb said. “We’re in the D4 bracket and our whole conference is D3, so we’re looking to make a good run come playou time. I’m excited because this (conference championship) pushes us this way.”

Webb stated that continued success with the passing will be critical for any postseason success that the Wolves have this season. Elmwood/Plum City’s first playou game will be on Thursday, Oct. 20, at home against the winner of New Lisbon and Alma/Pepin. Those games are slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Elmwood/Plum City sophomore Hailey Webb serves during the Wolves’ road conference championship game against Spring Valley on Thursday, Oct. 13. Webb and the Wolves defeated Spring Valley in four sets.Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Spring Valley junior Charli Vanasse serves during the third set against Elmwood/Plum City on Thursday, Oct. 13. The third set was the Cardinals’ lone victory of the night, as they fell in four sets to the rival Wolves. Photo by Reagan Hoverman