Wildcats on a 12-game win streak

It appears that for the third year in a row, River Falls and Chippewa Falls are once again on a collision course to meet in the playous.

However, this year is diuerent from any of the past seven seasons. For the first time in a half-decade, River Falls isn’t the #1 seed, Chi-Hi is, and the Cardinals beat the Wildcats in the regular season for the first time in more than seven years.

The Wildcats’ loss on the road against Chi-Hi was in the Big Rivers Conference opener on Thursday, Sept. 1. In that loss, the Cardi nals exploited the Wildcats’ defense and got River Falls head coach Sara Kealy thinking about potential changes, both in the lineup and schematically.

Those changes came to fruition for coach Kealy after River Falls took multiple loss- es at a Duluth Invitational tournament. She decided to roll out those adjustments at the Charger Invitational in Milwaukee – that’s when everything changed.

“The roll that we’re on started at the Charger Rally in Milwaukee and it’s when I made our lineup change,” Kealy said. “I feel good about the way it’s playing out. It’s very un orthodox, I have a setter that’s blocking the middle and setting from there and you just don’t see that. We had a need and I knew Morgan (Kealy) was capable of it.” Morgan Kealy, the senior setter responsi- ble for running the Wildcats’ ouense, has tak en on multiple roles this season, now as both a blocker and a setter. Senior middle blocker Taylor Peterson has taken on a new role as a six-rotation player, which Sara Kealy has credited as reenergizing the team.

“We had a need in the backcourt with some euort and you take Taylor Peterson, who hasn’t been a rotation player, but she’ll give you everything she’s got and that’s what I needed,” Sara Kealy said. “With that line – up change, it took some pressure ou of some kids that maybe were taking on more than they were comfortable with. Now, they can do the job that they can handle.” The lineup adjustment means that the experienced seniors on the roster will carry the load, while younger, more inexperienced players will provide supplementary roles. Since those adjustments, River Falls has rolled ou 12 consecutive wins and is playing its best volleyball of the season. River Falls is currently 36-5.

A couple of the victories in that winning streak came against some of the top-ranked teams in both Wisconsin and Minnesota, including Pewaukee, Germantown, Southwest Christian and Wayzata. Coach Kealy and River Falls have always prided themselves on playing a rigorous schedule throughout each season.

That’s part of the reason that she advocated for River Falls getting the #1 seed for the upcoming playous instead of Chippewa Falls. Kealy spoke about the case that she made as to why the Wildcats should have been given the top seed.

“I said (Chi-Hi) beat us in conference play, but we also beat them four days prior (Sprawl Tournament) and we’re one spot ahead of them in the MaxPreps,” Sara Kealy said. “They’ve played four top-20 match – es and they’re 2-2. We’ve played 11 top-20 matches and we’re 7-4.” Essentially, coach Kealy argued that Chi- Hi has an inflated record because they’ve played a weak schedule against only a hand- ful of top-ranked teams. While getting the top seed for the playous would have been a bonus for the Wildcats, Kealy schedules the teams that she does so that her roster is bat- tle-tested come playou time.

“We’ve played St. Michael-Albertville, we’ve played the #14 team in South Dakota, we’ve played Howards Grove and Manito- woc Lincoln,” Kealy said. “I could just rattle them all ou. I feel like wow, that’s a schedule and that’s why I feel prepared going into this because the kids are battle-tested and there’s a lot of trust.” Chi-Hi ended up with the #1 seed in the Division 1 bracket and River Falls got the #2 seed in their respective sectional bracket. Both teams will get a bye on the first day of playou competition, Tuesday, Oct. 18. If the two teams meet, it would be in the Division 1 Sectional Final at the neutral site of Marsh- field on Saturday, Oct. 29.

“I would anticipate seeing Chi-Hi again,” Kealy said. “I’m excited for it and I think (their head coach) is too. His is more like a nervous excitement and they just have to prove it. Mine is like until you beat us, we’re still a six-time sectional champion. We’re coming from diuerent perspectives, but I think the excitement for the competition is there.” Part of that excitement is that River Falls is a completely diuerent team than it was when the Cats and Cardinals clashed in that Big Rivers Conference opener more than a month ago. Since then, the aforementioned lineup adjustments and some schematic changes make them an even tougher team to beat than before.

In that conference match, Chippewa Falls had success attacking the line, which is how the Cardinals scored most of their points. Nearly all of the Chi-Hi ouense revolves around setting the pins and getting down- hill on the River Falls defense. Coach Kealy spoke about implementing a new defense better suited for that kind of team.

“We’re not the same team as when we played them last time,” Kealy said. “They have a lot of really strong ouensive pin hit – ters. We worked a ton on our blocking. Not only did I make a lineup change in terms of personnel, but I put in a totally diuerent de – fense. Not specifically for them, but it suits them well. Between the blocking, backcourt defense adjustment and personnel, I think it looks really good right now.” River Falls will begin its postseason on Thursday, Oct. 20, at home against #7 Menomonie and #10 Superior. That game is slated to begin in River Falls at 7 p.m.