GREEN BAY, Wis. — River Falls’ magical tournament run came to an end against the top-seeded team at the top of its game.

The eighth-seeded Wildcats were ousted in the Division 1 quarterfinals by powerhouse Milwaukee Divine Savior Holy Angels 25-12, 25-6 and 25-11 in the Wisconsin girls state volleyball tournament Thursday night.

DSHA, ranked No. 1 in Division 1 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches’ Association state poll, dominated from the outset to improve to an astonishing 45-1 against a Wildcats team (26-14), not expected by many to advance to state.

“We knew coming in that DSHA was (the No. 1) seed for a reason and we kind of had an uphill battle that we were going to be fighting all night with the players that they have on their roster,” River Falls coach Sara Kealy said.

After finishing third in the Big Rivers Conference, the Wildcats entered tournament play as the No. 6 seed in the sectional. They ousted conference co-champ Chippewa Falls in the regional final, then avenged a regular-season loss to co-champ Eau Claire Memorial in the section final to earn their seventh trip to state in eight years.

“I’m just really proud of the way we came out,” Kealy said. “I think a little shell-shocked at first just with the environment. For all of my players that are on our team this year, 13 of them, only two of them have ever been here before, and weren’t on the court when River Falls played here. So, it was a new experience for all of them.”

In the opening set, DSHA jumped out to a 6-1 lead, but River Falls pulled within 10-7 on a kill by Maddy Range. But the Dashers took control with a 10-2 run.

“I think on the court for the first set, all of us just played scared,” senior Savannah Saxton said. “I think it was a huge environment to play in. Like Sara said, none of us on the court had played (here). So, we were all just not composed.”

DSHA dominated the second game, opening a 9-1 lead and staying in command the rest of the way.

The Wildcats scored the first point of the third game on a kill by Range, but the Dashers answered with a 6-0 run, capped by three consecutive aces. DSHA then pushed the lead to 12-2.

“It was one of those things where you want to stop the bleeding, you want to fix what’s broken, but you don’t know how,” Kealy said. “So, it’s not a matter of not wanting to do it, it’s a matter of maybe not knowing how to adjust. And some of that’s because of what DSHA does on their side of the net. They’re really good.”

DSHA defeated River Falls 2-0 in a tournament in mid-September, but Dashers coach Caitie Ratkowski was not expecting to face the same team.

“We watched some of their match against Chippewa Falls in their regional so that we could see how they’re playing now,” Ratkowski. “We expected some improvement. River Falls’ program has a great reputation, and so we wanted to make sure we were prepared for what we might see tonight.”

Range finished with a team-high six kills and Amelie Pankolin added five. Ava Peters had 10 assists. DSHA had 37 kills to 14 for the Wildcats, and also had 16 aces.

“It wasn’t an easy matchup for us, but we don’t ever quit, and that’s kind of how we made it through our playoff run and got to state,” Kealy said.

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